Does N.C. have worse political culture than New Jersey ?

In a much-talked about press conference at the time, former Gov. Jim Hunt during his first term in office warned against "creeping New Jersey." If memory serves, it was 1979 and he was talking about urban sprawl and inappropriate development.

He was not talking about public corruption or political culture. But one reader of Sunday's column about Gov. Mike Easley and an adjacent column by Gail Collins on whether Illinois or New York has the worst political culture (New Jersey, she noted, was in third place) has a question: Why isn't North Carolina on the list? He wrote:

Jack Betts’ column on Sunday was filled with insight about the ego and arrogance of former Governor Easley. It showed classic examples of the legnths politicians will go to to burnish their reputations, whether or not those reputations are earned.
It is no coincidence that Gail Collins’ column was right next to Jack’s, trying to decide which state’s politics were the worst, New York or Illinois. After reading the Betts column and having followed the current long list of possible malfeasance by those in the Easley administration, it would probably be appropriate to ask Gail Collins the following quiestion:’ How come you gave New Jersey third place?’
Doug Samut
Mooresville, NC