News 14 Carolina - Political Connections

Tourism and corruption-quite a day! The annual pit crew challenge took place outside the General Assembly today. It pitted lawmakers from the House and Senate against each other to change the tires on a race car.

It's all aimed to celebrate tourism in North Carolina which is now the sixth top state in the nation for tourist destinations.

When researching a little futher, what's interesting is the beaches and mountains don't bring in the most bucks. Mecklenburg, Wake, and Guilford counties bring in the most visitor spending dollars. Dare and Buncombe (beach and mountain) counties follow those as the first counties you would think about when it comes to tourism.

It makes sense when you think about it, simply because of all the friends and families of a large city population come and spend at restaurants, malls, etc. But it provides an interesting perspective when you think about how everyone does just about anything for beach and mountain communities because they are the lifeline of tourism.

Don't get me wrong, I just got married at the beach, these areas are vital for tourism but it does put everything in a different perspective when you look at the numbers.

Oh and by the way...Rep. Thomas Wright could find himself in a heap of trouble. The Board of Elections handed over allegations against him to the Wake County District Attorney for potential campaign finance violations. Word is from experts he's going to prison and several other lawmakers are feeling the heat and this is no where near the end.

Stay tuned!