If one of Jimmy Carter's Cabinet secretaries volunteered his services to the state, how do you think North Carolina's Democratic leadership would react?

A) Put him to work as a volunteer B) Give him a top job or C) Tell him to get lost?

The correct answer: C) Tell him to get lost.

That is what Luther Hodges Jr. was told earlier this year. The state House leadership kicked Hodges off the state Ports Authority board, and the Senate leadership blocked him from serving on the UNC Board of Governors.

"I really would love to help North Carolina, and North Carolina needs some help," Hodges said last week.

Hodges, 68, moved back to Chapel Hill in 2003 after his career took him to Washington and New Mexico.

His father had been governor of North Carolina (1954-61) and John F. Kennedy's commerce secretary.

The son became chairman of North Carolina National Bank in Charlotte (now Bank of America) at age 37 and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1978. President Carter later named him deputy commerce secretary. For six months, he ran the department as acting secretary. He later became CEO of the National Bank of Washington.

Hodges left North Carolina as a moderate, pro-business Democrat and returned a Republican. Disappointment with Bill Clinton and the influence of the trial lawyers on the Democratic Party had caused him to switch parties.

Hodges became active in GOP politics, helping raise money for candidates and speaking at a state Republican convention.

Two years ago, Richard Morgan, then the Republican co-speaker of the House, appointed him to a two-year term on the state Ports Authority. Hodges was part of a board that helped clean up a mess at the authority, including firing the authority's chief executive officer for misuse of state money.

"It was a disaster," Hodges said. "We made substantial progress. But it didn't seem to make any difference [to the legislature]."

When Hodges' two-year term ended this fall, Democratic Speaker Jim Black was back in full control of the state House. Hodges asked Black for reappointment and got a form letter back even though the two men had known each other for years.

"I think it's punishment" for having switched parties, Hodges said.

Republican Rep. Danny McComas of Wilmington, who had engineered Hodges' appointment to the ports authority, could only shake his head.

"Our ports have become too political," McComas said. "Luther Hodges brought a lot of credibility to the state ports."

Hodges said he had lined up enough commitments last spring to be elected to the board that governs the UNC system. But his name was never allowed up for a vote, as Senate Democratic leaders slammed through their own slate.

Hodges said he had planned to back Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue for governor in 2008, but not now.

"At this point, I wouldn't give a Democrat any money," Hodges said. "They have created an enemy. It's bad for the state. It's bad for me. And it's bad politics."