Eight members of the House voted against overriding Gov. Mike Easley's veto of a wide boats bill.

Those members are:

Alice Bordsen, D-Alamance

Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe

Sandra Spaulding Hughes, D-Wilmington

Verla Insko, D-Orange

Maggie Jeffus, D-Guilford

Paul Luebke, D-Durham

Mickey Michaux, D-Durham

Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake

In the Senate, Ed Jones, D-Halifax, voted against override, but Jones' vote was not recorded because he paired his vote with the absent Doug Berger, D-Franklin. Under the Senate's rules, Jones can cast Berger's vote for him, but it means neither vote is recorded.

The House and Senate roll call votes are below.

Libertarian candidate Christopher Cole thinks he can influence the increasingly close race between Democrat Kay Hagan and Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole for the U.S. Senate.

Cole polled at 5 percent in the latest survey of likely voters by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm in Raleigh. The poll had Hagan with a 42-39 lead over Dole.

"I suspect fiscal conservatives fed up with what’s happening under Bush would pick me over Dole,” Cole said today. He said he could pull votes away from Hagan because he opposes a ban on same-sex marriage and because he has not engaged in what he called “immigrant-bashing.”

“I’m in a tip-the-balance point right now,” Cole said. “I could cost one or the other the election. Dole would be my guess.”

He figures he’ll pull about 60 percent of his votes from Dole, the rest from Hagan.

Not all convention experiences are the same, says Rob Black, a Democratic delegate from Apex.

State delegates and Washington D.C. insiders can share a city for a week, but their activities beyond the convention floor vary greatly, he said.

“It’s apples and oranges,” said Black, 39.

Black should know. This is his fifth convention, but his first as a delegate.

Black spent years working in Washington and had attended conventions since 1992 because they had something to do with his job.

“If you come from D.C. as a Beltway politico, you are much more plugged in to the parties,” he said. “They are the coin of the realm for D.C. politicos. If you come from the states, you’re not as plugged in to the social circuit or the buzz as to what the hottest party is.”

Black, who owns a political communications and lobbying firm that specializes in labor union work, called Dome this afternoon from a light rail station.

The North Carolina delegation was put in a hotel some miles from downtown Denver, but close to the rail line.

That’s what the delegation is using most to get around, he said.

Gov. Mike Easley said in a statement that he won't feel responsible for any harm that comes from wide boats on the roads.

"I have done what I thought was right to protect the safety of the public on our highways," Easley said through a spokesman.

"It will be the members of the General Assembly who will have on their hands the consequences of this law. I hope and pray no one gets hurt."

Easley became the first governor in state history to have a veto shot down by the legislature.

Joe Sinsheimer says more change is needed at the General Assembly.

The former Democratic campaign consultant released a statement Wednesday on the conviction of former state Rep. Thomas Wright. Sinsheimer filed the initial complaint against the Wilmington Democrat in December 2006 with the State Board of Elections.

Here's his statement:

Thomas Wright's latest felony conviction is a sad end to a once promising political career.

Wright seems to have been undone by the same toxic combination of arrogance, hubris and greed that led to the downfall of former Speaker Jim Black. The indictments and convictions will continue until either the leadership of the General Assembly decides to change the culture of the institution or voters adopt a 'throw-the-bums-out' mentality.

Neither seems imminent, although both would be welcome.

Several lawmakers are subjects of ongoing investigations. The State Board of Elections is investigating a complaint about Sen. Julia Boseman, a Wilmington Democrat, and it has been reviewing the campaign finances of several Mecklenburg County Democrats in response to an investigation by The Charlotte Observer.

The House of Representatives voted in March to expel Wright from office, the first expulsion since the 19th century.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated whether any lawmakers are under investigation.

DENVER - Gov. Mike Easley and First Lady Mary Easley are often not at their seats on the convention floor of the Pepsi Center.

State Democratic Chairman Jerry Meek implored the state's delegates this morning not to sit in the seats reserved for the Easleys, reports Rob Christensen.

"If you want to sit in the governor's seat, there is a process for that,” Meek quipped.

DENVER – Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius stopped by a meeting of the North Carolina delegation this morning and made a pitch for the Tar Heel state to change senators.

“You have an opportunity to retire Sen. Dole,” said Sibelius. “Kay Hagan will make a fabulous U.S. senator.”

Dole, of course, has long-time ties to Kansas, where her husband Bob Dole, represented the state in the Senate, reports Rob Christensen.

Sebelius, who was regarded as one of Barack Obama's finalists for vice president, also put in a plug for the national ticket.

“John McCain is obviously more of the same,” Sebelius said. “If you are hurting under George Bush, will hurt more under John McCain.”

DENVER – Who would've thunk it?

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley seems to be enjoying politicking at the Democratic National Convention.

Easley, who normally eschews politics, has been busy working the convention.

He has been attending fundraising receptions for the Democratic Governors Association, has given more than 20 press interviews and is speaking to delegation breakfasts in such states as Kansas, North Carolina, Michigan Arizona and Virginia.

He also also been networking with law firms and companies hosting receptions.

More after the jump.

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Delegates cast their votes for their preferred Democrat on paper ballots this morning, said Anita Earls of Durham.

Whether those votes end up meaning anything come roll-call time is uncertain.

“What they’re going to do for the camera, I don’t know,” she said.

Earls, a civil rights lawyer, went to Denver hoping to find substance in a convention city full of parties and fundraisiers. And she found it.

Among other things, The Nation is holding panel discussions every day, and Barack Obama's campaign sent a surrogate to the North Carolina delegate breakfast to talk about energy policy, she said.

And even the parties can be good for exchanging ideas. Earls met a lawyer from Georgia who does the same kind of work as she does at a party Tuesday night sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus.

“You can go to the parties and just drink, or you can talk to people,” said Earls, 48, an Obama delegate.

Plenty of delegates attend conventions over and over, but Earls sees Denver as her one shot. She wants to figure out how to get more first-timers at the next convention to, as she says, “pass the torch around.”

“You can bring more people into politics if we try to open it up more,” she said.

DENVER – When North Carolina's roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention is announced tonight, it will be delivered by three people – state Democratic Chairman Jerry Meek, Gov. Mike Easley and U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield.

That is, if it's announced at all.

There is talk that when the roll call gets to New York, Sen. Hillary Clinton will move that her one-time rival, Barack Obama, be nominated by acclamation. If that's the case, North Carolina will not get its moment in the sun, reports Rob Christensen.

Meek said it unusual, but not unprecedented, that three people would announce the vote. He plans a meeting this afternoon to decide what should be said.

His own personal preference, Meek quipped, is “the home of Duke basketball.” Meek, of course, is a Duke alum.

The actual voting by the delegation began this morning at a delegation breakfast. Because Obama won North Carolina, the outcome is not a mystery.