Progressive Democrats of NC Endorses Dan Besse for Lt. Governor

Press Release

December 11, 2007

Contact: Christopher Lizak, (919) 744-5834, or Pete MacDowell,

919-968-9184

Progressive Democrats of NC Endorses Dan Besse for Lt. Governor

On Saturday, December 8th, the Progressive Democrats of NC, meeting in
Chapel Hill, voted to endorse Dan Besse in the Democratic primary for Lt.
Governor.

Pete MacDowell, President of PDNC, said, "The strong majority vote which Dan
received reflects the fact that the membership was impressed that Dan has
walked his talk as a consistent and effective advocate for the environment
and other progressive causes for decades."

Hampton Dellinger and Pat Smathers also spoke before the gathering. The
membership resolved to support either of these candidates, should they win
the primary, for the general election.

The PDNC Candidate Questionnaire and the Candidate Responses can be found in
their entirety at www.pdncpac.org.

The process:

In early 2007, the PDNC Policy Committee solicited input from the PDNC
membership to determine our Legislative Priorities for the 2007-08 NCGA
session.

Using those Legislative Priorities as a starting point, and including input
from the NC NAACP's HK on J 14-point agenda which was endorsed by the PDNC
Executive Board, a list of 21 questions was compiled for the Lt Governor's
Forum.

A questionnaire was sent to all of the Democratic Candidates for Lt.
Governor which contained the 21 questions, and a cover letter was sent
informing all of the candidates of the ground rules. One question had to be
discarded when it was brought to the Policy Chair's attention that it's
premise was inaccurate.

The format at the Forum itself consisted of three parts: (1) Introductory
Statements no longer than 10 minutes from each of the three candidates that
participated in the questionnaire process; (2) Two Questions were then asked
of each candidate by the Policy Chair, with responses no longer than three
minutes; (3) Remaining time was dedicated to questions from the audience
being addressed to specific candidates, with responses no longer than three
minutes (time allowed for six questions in this category).

The floor was then opened for motions to be made regarding whether or not to
endorse. A resolution was passed that the PDNC would support any of the
three participating candidates, Dan Besse, Hampton Dellinger, or Pat
Smathers, who won the primary. A resolution was then passed that the PDNC
would endorse in the race. Per the ground rules, by secret ballot, Dan Besse
won the endorsement vote by a wide margin, with Hampton Dellinger coming in
second.