RALEIGH -- Businessman, and longtime supporter of conservative causes, Art Pope cleaned out his desk at State Budget Director Friday, but questions remain about his impact on the early years of the Pat McCrory administration. Meredith College Political Science professor David McLennan says Pope being on the job was the case of someone being in the right place at the right time, considering his connections with the State House and Senate.

McLennan said, "I think without Art Pope's help and assistance, as not only budget director but adviser to Governor McCrory, things could have gotten a lot worse for the governor - in terms of the battles between those two bodies."

Some were critical that Pope had too much power in the administration, but McLennan says that McCrory's experience as Charlotte mayor was bolstered by Pope's inside knowledge of state politics.