Basnight suggests a favorite to lead DOT

Senate leader Marc Basnight said Thursday that he has told Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue that Lanny Wilson, a member of the state transportation board, would be a good pick for transportation secretary.

Wilson, who is from Wilmington, would be no stranger to Perdue. He is one of a handful of board members who were also fundraisers for her gubernatorial campaign. Two other transportation board members, who raised money for Perdue, resigned during the campaign. Thomas Betts pressured a city official to raise money for Perdue, and Louis Sewell steered roadwork to commercial properties in Jacksonville that he or his son co-owned.

Perdue pledged to use executive orders to take much of the specific road-building decisions away from transportation board members, who are appointed by the governor.

Basnight said Wilson's fundraising activities wouldn't raise any problems with him running the transportation department.

"I think Lanny would be outstanding," Basnight said. "He never wants anything for himself. Never has. He's a fundraiser because he cares. And there's not a governor in this country that I'm aware of who will not appoint people who raise money for them.

"I would not shy from it. Now [Perdue] may well do that. She never did listen to me."

Efforts to reach Wilson on Thursday afternoon failed. A message to a Perdue spokesman was not immediately returned.

"Lanny has so much to give this state," Basnight said. "He's smart, and he understands the department very well. I believe he could reorganize the department in a fashion that we would get much more out for our money."

Offshore drilling gets look

Basnight said he and House Speaker Joe Hackney will appoint a commission to study the potential benefits and risks of drilling for oil off the coast of North Carolina.

Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, strongly opposes drilling because, he said, it would provide a relative pittance of oil while risking damaging or destroying the costal ecosystem and economy.

"If the study were to come back and say 'We have this incredible find, and it is larger than anything man has seen,' I'd have to look at that," he said.

Meanwhile, the state has already funded a study at UNC-Chapel Hill to investigate producing wind-powered energy off the coast. Basnight said the two studies may help convince people that drilling -- a popular idea for some during national and local elections -- may not be the best course of action.

Waxman bucks seniority

The chatter on Capitol Hill on Thursday was all about the inside-the-Beltway battle between Democratic U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman and John Dingell for control of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.

There was a secret vote in the House Democratic caucus on whether to oust Dingell -- the body's longest-serving member -- from the post he has held for 27 years.

The vote pitted Dingell, the Michigan congressman who has used his post to champion the auto industry, against Waxman, the California congressman with strong environmental leanings.

Democrats' tradition holds that seniority trumps all when it comes to chairmanships, so for Waxman to launch a coup against Dingell was big gossip around Washington.

Turns out, Waxman won 137-122.

So how did some of North Carolina's Democrats cast their ballots?

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, said he voted for Dingell.

"I just thought it was a mistake, without having concrete and compelling reasons, to start disregarding the seniority system," Watt said.

U.S. Reps. David Price of Chapel Hill and Brad Miller of Raleigh would not say whom they supported.

Price has worked closely with Waxman on issues regarding private security contractors working in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

He also is a strong partisan who respects Democratic party rules. Those reward seniority.

Here's what Price's spokesman, Paul Cox, had to say: "This internal party election was conducted through secret ballot."

A spokeswoman for Miller said disclosing his vote would not help the cohesiveness of House Democrats.

"Congressman Miller voted secret ballot because he has a deep respect for both Waxman and Dingell," said spokeswoman LuAnn Canipe.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat, cast his ballot for Dingell.

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler of Waynesville served on Dingell's "whip team," meaning he was tapped to help round up caucus votes for the Michigan lawmaker.