In an article about future female presidential candidates, Week in Review writer Kate Zernike says the most likely candidate will be from the South or from west of the Mississippi, possibly a Democrat who has won in a red state.

Later, she mentions possible female running mates for Barack Obama, including Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

"Beverly Perdue, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, who is running for governor, is also named as a prospect," she writes.

Perdue is also listed on an accompanying graphic of 12 potential female candidates, next to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Dome figures Perdue will probably have to first win the governor's race before she's considered running mate or candidate material, however.

Kill bedbugs -- no joke

Rep. G.K. Butterfield has bedbugs on his mind.

Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, has sponsored the Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008, which would establish a grant program so states can establish inspection, prevention and eradication of the blood- sucking pests. States would have to require the inspection of at least 20 percent of their hotel rooms.

"Unfortunately, it's not a joke," Butterfield said in a news release. "Fifty years after being virtually eliminated, bed bugs are back all across the country."

Butterfield's news release said there are numerous news reports indicating that bedbugs are showing up in some of the country's finest hotels, such as the Ramada Plaza in San Francisco, the five-star Westin resort in Hollywood, Fla., and the Regency Inn and Suites in New York City.

The money would come from within the U.S. Department of Commerce's existing budget.

Butterfield said eliminating bedbugs from hotels is important because they can be the source of a home infestation.

Libertarians bid for ballot

The Libertarian Party thinks it has collected enough signatures to get back on the ballot for the November election.

Last week, party officials said they turned in 72,000 signatures to the State Board of Elections to try to gain ballot access for their prospective nominees. Libertarians said they have spent four years and nearly $130,000 collecting the signatures to meet the requirements of the law party officials are fighting to overturn.

Elections board officials said they are still combing through the signatures to verify their authenticity. The process should be completed this week, officials said. If the signatures are certified, it would mark the eighth time the party has been on the ballot.

Libertarians say the effort to get ballot access has been difficult. It's the central issue in a pending lawsuit over the state's ballot access rules for third-party candidates.

State law requires third parties to collect signatures equal to 2 percent of the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial race. Attorneys for Libertarian and Green Party candidates argued this month in Wake Superior Court that the law is unconstitutional.

McCrory plugs anti-gang bill

Republican gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory will lobby for an anti-gang bill.

McCrory said at a news conference last week that he will work with lawmakers to pass legislation this session fighting gangs.

"I will be back to try to get some gang legislation passed that both Republicans and Democrats have been working to get for now over three years," he said. "It's time to get that heard on the Senate floor and to make a strong bill that gangs will not be tolerated."

The longtime Charlotte mayor has made gangs and crime one of the central planks of his platform.

Three gang bills could be considered in the short session: House Bill 274, House Bill 902 and Senate Bill 1358. McCrory will likely focus on the first bill.