The most expensive campaign in Wake County school board history is leading  to a flurry of ads and charges.

As noted in today's article, reports on file show $385,909 has been raised so far by the candidates and other groups. But the number is actually far higher because many groups don't have to file yet or have only filed partial reports.

For instance, the $385,909 doesn't include the political parties and all the 501 groups and 527 groups. By the time all the numbers come in, the amount raised should easily exceed $500,000.

Republicans and Democrats are going after each other in another round of squabbling about the Wake County school board elections.

In this week's issue of the Elephant Express, Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant responds to state Democratic Party Chairman David Parker's Aug. 20 call to action to his party's members.

Parker blames the changes in Wake schools on the "vicious fanaticism" of those carrying on Jesse Helms' legacy. In the process, Parker invokes the Tea Party, the Koch brothers and Wake County Commissioners Chairman Paul Coble.

Actor, comedian, and North Carolina native Zach Galifianakis appeared on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday night, and his discussion with the show's host briefly touched on his uncle's 1972 U.S. Senate race versus Jesse Helms.

Maher began by teasing Zach about living in the North Carolina mountains ("You look like you live out in the woods in North Carolina," Maher joked, referring to Zach's scruffy beard). Maher teased him further: "You live out there with the abortion bombers and the like, crazy people." Zach: "Yeah, I think politically I don't probably fit in with the people, but they're very nice people." Zach then gave a frightened glance toward the camera, for a laugh.

Maher then segued into the Helms race. . . .

While it's looking less likely that Enloe High School will undergo a name change what about renaming it after former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms?

As noted in today's article, school board member John Tedesco said it's an unlikely that any school will be renamed unless something "horrid" is discovered about the person who bears the name of that school. Tedesco has been tasked by school board chairman Ron Margiotta with reviewing the racial history of former Raleigh Mayor William G. Enloe.

Enter into the mix a question that Cash Michaels, reporter and chief editor of The Carolinian, the twice-weekly African American newspaper, is asking.

Art Pope is denying being the architect of the new Wake County school board majority and Thomas Farr is saying he advised against sending out controversial postcards in the 1990 U.S. Senate campaign.

As noted in today's article, Pope said "to say I was the architect was overstated.” He's referring to an Oct. 7 e-mail message from Wake GOP finance chair Marc Scruggs in which he tells school board member Ron Margiotta that they followed Pope's plan in the election.

Pope says he raised money for the school board candidates and gave advice to Wake GOP Chairman Claude Pope, his distant cousin. But he says that was all he did during the campaign.

Should Thomas Farr's role in allegedly discouraging African-American voters from showing up in the polls in the 1980s and 1990s impact his hiring by the new Wake County school board majority?

As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, a U.S. Justice Department complaint from 1992 said Farr “had been involved in past ballot security efforts on behalf of Senator (Jesse) Helms and/or the defendant North Carolina Republican Party…” Farr was not named a defendant in the complaint.

Justice Department officials under President George H.W. Bush said these measures were intended to intimidate thousands of African-American residents and discourage them from voting in a 1990 U.S. Senate election. Farr had been helping Helms in his reelection bid against former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, an African-American.

Back when he was the most controversial member of the U.S. Senate, Jesse A. Helms was also half of the oddest couple in American life. The late senator from North Carolina and U2 frontman Bono formed an unlikely political alliance late in the senator's career, to fight AIDS in Africa. Bono and Helms met for dinner before U2 played Chalotte in 2005; And this past Saturday, his widow Dot Helms dropped in on Bono before the band's show at Carter-Finley Stadium. Helms' former chief of staff Jimmy Broughton sends along this picture and report:

She was delighted to see him as Bono and Sen. Helms developed a strong and genuine friendship. Bono walked into the room backstage and greeted Mrs. Helms warmly and said that it was because of "Jesse" that more than 3 million children are alive and on anti-retroviral drugs today in Africa. He's said that before and it's quite genuine. Bono then talked about being in Washington, D.C., last week and seeing some of the Senator's colleagues. Mrs. Helms thanked Bono for his gracious comments when her husband died and also wanted to make sure senators were still helping as "Jesse did." Bono said he's been impressed with some of the new senators and continues to work with those who served with Sen. Helms. He mentioned Vice President Biden and how much he and Sen. Helms worked together to start the process on global AIDS relief. Mrs. Helms commented on how much Biden and the Senator liked each other -- classmates, did not have to always agree to be friends, etc. It was a great meeting and Mrs. Helms really enjoyed it.

An astute political friend once observed that North Carolinians were a bit schizofrenic when it comes to elections. What voter, she asked, would vote for Jesse Helms for U.S. Senator and Jim Hunt for Governor in the same election?

It's an interesting question to ask in Wendell these days, in light of the town board's decision to appoint both Lisa Sanderson and Charlie Kramer to the Planning Board.

Sanderson and her husband, Steve, have led an effort to remake Wendell Boulevard, a move that struck a nerve with some of the more conservative folks in town. Lisa Sanderson, daughter of former Mayor June Perry, is smart as a whip and always does her homework before she opens her mouth.

Kramer has been the silent giant behind the Wendell Community Coalition. He's an astute researcher who's inclined to follow a leave-it-alone course of action. Commissioners may have believed Kramer was the lesser of two evils in having to choose between him and Dan Edwards, the much more vocal opponent of developments like Pepper Pointe. But they have appointed a big dog to the board.

Sanderson and Kramer ought to be wonderful foils.