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An abrupt staff resignation of a key state official -- Revenue Secretary Ken Lay -- headlines a rocky week for Gov. Beverly Perdue. Rick Martinez, news director of StateGovernmentRadio.com, the North Carolina News Network and NewsRadio 680 WPTF joins host Donna Martinez to discuss the bad publicity that came Perdue's way after Lay told the media she had known about a policy that made it more difficult for taxpayers who had overpaid to get their money back. Rick and Donna also discuss why the person named to oversee the troubled SBI crime lab backed out of the job, and the excess payouts of unemployment insurance made by the Employment Security Commission.

Then Chris Hayes of the Civitas Institute analyzes the key North Carolina Senate races that will make or break the Democrats' efforts to retain control the chamber. Multiple retirements from the Democratic ranks, along with shifting political winds in the Republicans' favor, give the GOP a good chance of taking control of the chamber.

Then Democratic political strategist Perry Woods expresses his concerns over the Instant Runoff Voting process that will be used in one Court of Appeals race, should one of the 13 candidates not garner a majority of the vote. IRV is a problem waiting to happen, says Woods, and voters should be prepared.

Then Martinez discusses the push to raise money by several congressional candidates, N.C. Senate Majority Leader Martin Nesbitt's warning to Democrats that a 1994-style GOP landslide could be coming unless Democrats turn out in November, and Archie Comics' plan to put President Obama and Sarah Palin on a comic books cover -- this time as "the Chicago Kid" and the "Thrilla from Wasilla."