Ken Lay had to go. You don’t publicly embarrass and contradict the Governor and live to tell about it. His firing was no surprise.

The surprise was in the announcement that Senator David Hoyle would replace Lay as Secretary of Revenue. Hoyle, you might remember, announced he was not running for re-election because he was tired. At age 71, after 18 years in the Senate, he’s entitled to a rest.

Turns out he’s not ready to kick back. Hoyle is a Democrat who has survived in a Republican district for too long and he knew it. In 2008, he narrowly won re-election and decided to get out before he was turned out.

David will have to immediately resign from the remaining four months of his Senate seat. The Democratic Party of the district could name another to replace him, supposedly the Democrat running in November, but incumbency won’t be a factor in this election. In fact, few believe anything would tilt the scales to favor a Democrat.

But why Revenue? This post may be the least visible and attractive post in the Governor’s cabinet. Those who know David Hoyle are not surprised by the announcement. He has been the leading voice for business in the Senate and was reportedly not happy about Revenue’s imposition of big fines to multi-state companies who may have under-reported income and their tax liability in our state. He has also had some concerns about the way small businesses are treated by the department. Those who know Hoyle are not entirely surprised he would accept the appointment. Besides, he and Governor Perdue are buddies, he rooms with Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and he really isn’t ready to retire. No one expects this to be a long-term arrangement for Hoyle, but these same observers wouldn’t have expected him to have taken the job in the first place.

David Hoyle will put his mark on this department, make no mistake. The tensions between business and Revenue will fade. The talk of combined reporting, the method of multi-state reporting of income employed by other states, will quickly die. Those two gunslingers Ken Lay protected, the ones who lived in Charlotte and “commuted” to work in Raleigh, racking up huge travel expenses will have met their Wyatt Earp. Unless the Republicans take over the Senate, as expected by most, Hoyle could still have an important voice.

Hoyle is still energetic, still loves the political game and enjoys life in the capital. He’s smart, decisive and charismatic.  Aside from a concern he might be too pro-business we think he will make a good Secretary of Revenue. And who knows what might come next?