U.S. Sen. Sam Ervin Jr. used to have a sign behind his desk that read, "No man's life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session."

The saying is an old chestnut, but it accurately reflects the deep skepticism that many people feel toward state legislatures.

Which is why the decisions of two products of the state legislature to run for high office -- state Sen. Kay Hagan for the U.S. Senate and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue for governor -- are not without risk.

The North Carolina legislature has been a poor stepping stone for high political office. No North Carolina legislator has ever been popularly elected to the U.S. Senate. The last Tar Heel legislator to be elected governor was Jim Holshouser in 1972, and he was swept into office as part of a broad national Republican landslide.

Since then, state legislators who have tried to become governor but failed include Patrick Ballantine, Leo Daughtry, Robin Hayes and I. Beverly Lake Jr.

Lieutenant governors also have had bad luck running for governor. Although lieutenant governors are not technically part of the legislature, they are publicly identified with it because they preside over the Senate and can break tie votes in the Senate. Among the lieutenant governors who have lost gubernatorial races are Dennis Wicker, Jim Gardner, Bob Jordan, Jimmy Green and Pat Taylor. The last lieutenant governor to be elected governor was Jim Hunt in 1976 -- and Hunt would prove himself one of the most dominant politicians of the era.

People have always had a large degree of skepticism about state legislatures.

The work of the legislature is a complicated and messy process. It involves 170 men and women of all political philosophies and backgrounds trying to come to an agreement. It involves compromises, back room deals, log rolling and, in modern times, raising lots of money from special interests.

Lawmakers have to cast votes that offend some voters and provide grist for political opponents.

Running a legislature requires a different set of skills than running for higher office. To run for higher office, a candidate must convey a clear, attractive message and inspire people to follow. To run the legislature, building coalitions to govern and pass bills is required.

None of the most talented legislators of the past generation -- former House Speakers Liston Ramsey, Jim Black and Dan Blue, and Senate leaders Marc Basnight, Tony Rand and Ken Royall -- has been elected to higher political office.

But that doesn't mean the legislature is a political dead end. There are plenty of examples of state legislators who have taken the smaller steps of winning lesser statewide offices or running for the U.S. House.

But few have risen to be governor or senator.

So here's my advice for Kay Hagan and Beverly Perdue: If anybody asks what you have been doing the past few years, tell them you have been on vacation, working in the Peace Corps, in prison -- anything but serving on Jones Street.

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