In 2002, Raynor gave a dozen checks to the optometrists' state political action committee to support its political efforts. Months later, in April 2003, Decker cashed four of those checks, each for $100. They did not go into Decker's campaign account, and they are not recorded in his campaign finance reports.

"If someone walked up to the bank teller and cashed that check, stuck it in his billfold and used it to go to the movies, would you consider that to be a proper use of your monies?" state elections board chairman Larry Leake asked.

"No sir," Raynor replied.

Raynor and 11 other optometrists testified at a formal inquiry by the State Board of Elections on Wednesday that they gave campaign checks to the N.C. State Optometric Society's political action committee that left blank the date they signed them and the line indicating the recipient.

Someone later filled in those details, providing a few thousand dollars worth of checks that Decker cashed and several others that he deposited in his campaign account.

Other checks went into the campaigns of other lawmakers, including House Speaker Jim Black, a Mecklenburg County Democrat and an optometrist. It was not clear, based on Wednesday's testimony, who filled in the missing details.

Raynor and the other optometrists testified that they entrusted the PAC's treasurer, Michael Scott Edwards, a Murfreesboro optometrist, to decide how to distribute the political dough. But the practice, which some testified had gone on for years, appeared to run afoul of several state election laws covering the disclosure of campaign money and contribution limits.

Edwards, who has been subpoenaed to testify but was not called Wednesday, declined to comment.

Bob Hall, research director for Democracy North Carolina, a nonprofit campaign finance watchdog that initiated the inquiry, said the PAC found a way to funnel thousands of dollars to candidates without the public finding out. Donors of $100 or less do not have to be identified on campaign reports.

"The public is going to think this is a totally corrupt organization," Hall said. "The whole thing just smells bad."

Political action committees are private groups organized to elect or defeat government officials in order to promote legislation, often supporting the group's special interests.

Decker, who lost his seat representing Forsyth County in the 2004 Republican primary, received the checks after he had switched political parties just before the start of the 2003 legislative session. By joining the Democratic Party, Decker deadlocked the state House and allowed Black to retain the speakership in a powersharing agreement with Republican state Rep. Richard Morgan of Moore County.

Wednesday's testimony -- the opening day of the board's inquiry into possible illegal campaign activity -- centered on the financial windfall that came to Decker and his campaign in early 2003.

In addition to the optometrists' contributions, four lawyers with ties to the video poker industry testified that they either gave or helped raise $2,500 for Decker at the time of the switch.

Those donations appeared on Decker's campaign reports.

The lawyers all work for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, one of the state's largest law firms. Its clients have included a major video poker operator and the industry's association.

"The checks came in, and I transmitted them to the speaker, to the best of my knowledge," said Alexander "Sandy" Sands, a former state lawmaker who now works as a lobbyist for the firm.

Mark Poovey, one of the lawyers, testified that Sands asked him to raise money for Decker.

The inquiry, held in a makeshift hearing room at a downtown Raleigh hotel, attracted media from across the state, as well as state and federal investigators who are doing separate probes involving Decker; the creation of the state lottery; the work of Black's former political director, Meredith Norris; and campaign contributions from the video poker industry.

Norris, who has been subpoenaed to testify at the election board hearing, showed up after lunch and sat quietly with her attorneys.

The inquiry could lead to a finding that no laws have been broken, or a public rebuke, fines or a referral of election law violations to the district attorney for criminal investigation. The board could also issue suggestions to lawmakers to tighten state election laws.

Black and Decker have been subpoenaed for the hearings, and they were offered seats at tables in the front of the room.

Decker sat several rows back in the audience and hung his head during much of the hearing. He chewed at his fingernails and said little to those around him.

Black said he would not comment on the hearings until after he testified. But he said some of Wednesday's testimony was "quite misleading."

His lawyer, Kenneth Bell of Charlotte, said none of the testimony showed that Black or his staff did anything wrong.

Elections board members often sounded incredulous as they took in the testimony. They wondered why Sands sent Black the campaign money for Decker when Sands couldn't recall being asked by the speaker to raise it.