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N.C. Democrats choose first transgender in diverse DNC delegationBy Carmen Cusido The Charlotte Observer Posted: Sunday, Jun. 17, 2012 RALEIGH N.C. Democrats on Saturday selected the remainder of the party’s 158-member delegation to September’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. And they did it with an emphasis on diversity. Among those picked Saturday: Janice Covington of Charlotte, the first openly transgender person to serve as a Democratic delegate from the state.“It’s important to my community – to the whole LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community” – to be a part of the convention, Covington, 64, said. “We’ve always been left...

RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina Democratic Party asked voters Wednesday to avoid shopping at dozens of discount retail stores whose parent company, owned by a conservative activist's family, injected hundreds of thousands of dollars into the fall elections to target Democrats. Party leaders set their sights on Variety Wholesalers Inc. executive Art Pope at a news conference, calling him a "right-wing extremist" who sent money to at least three conservative political organizations that have created mailers and ads critical of Democratic incumbents. The party's boycott of the company's North Carolina stores, mostly under the names of Roses, Maxway and...

Some anonymous post-election gloating by mail has angered local Democrats. "It's disturbing," April Sherrill said of a postcard sent to her Mount Ulla home. Sherrill is secretary of the Rowan County Democratic Party and chaired the John Kerry-John Edwards campaign in Rowan. Other Democrats in Salisbury have received similar postcards, which had only this type-written text: "YOUR GUY LOST NOW GET OVER IT Thank the Lord for George W. Bush and his leadership, testimony and witness. Just think what this country would be like with a confessed war criminal, traitor of our country, murder (sic) of unborn children, kissing up...

While the state Supreme Court decides whether new legislative districts are invalid because a clause in the state constitution bars the splitting of counties, House Democratic leaders are considering amending the constitution to delete the provision. House Speaker Jim Black, a Matthews Democrat, has been gauging support among members for putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot. One option that Black is discussing with legislators is to ask voters to delete the whole-county provision and approve a provision requiring all legislators to be in single-member districts. If necessary, such a move could be done in a special legislative session or...