Today’s guest columnist is Rick Henderson, managing editor of Carolina Journal.

RALEIGH — A few days ago, my wife — who’s not at all ashamed of her liberal sensibilities — read Carolina Journal‘s most recent news story about a real estate scandal involving former Gov. Mike Easley, and said, “Good lord, we’ve moved to Chicago!”

She’s spent the past 30 years in Colorado, which has been largely free of such illegalities. (I’m a native of Wilkes County.) And I’m sure there’s no connection between Colorado’s relatively clean politics and the state’s embrace of such restraints on government overreach as legislative term limits and the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. But I digress. The handful of political journalists in the Tar Heel State who are still fortunate enough to be employed see 2009 as an awesome year, stuffed with scandal, intrigue, double-dealing, and reporters hanging out at the federal courthouse to get a glimpse of who’s testifying before the grand jury.

For the remaining 9.2 million North Carolinians, facing stubbornly high unemployment rates, a sluggish economy, rising taxes, and — yes — an almost daily rollout of fresh corruption stories, the year probably hasn’t been so great.

And while it’s always tricky to predict how history will view a calendar year before it has ended, it’s difficult to imagine 2009 being remembered for anything other than the scandals that have roiled Easley, his family, his supporters, and perhaps his political patrons in the Democratic Party.

The question is no longer whether the federal grand jury meeting in Raleigh will issue indictments — perhaps over the next few weeks — but how many will be charged, and who (eventually) will serve time.

Beyond that, there’s the collateral damage: Which people or institutions, other than those identified at the State Board of Elections hearing on Easley, may be damaged by the criminal probe? Here are a few candidates:

• Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand. Easley was the Fayetteville Democrat’s protégé. But until recently, Rand had never been directly implicated in any Easley scandal. That changed with the most recent CJ story by Don Carrington outlining a suspicious real estate deal at Bald Head Island involving a house for Easley that Rand facilitated. The feds, who are quite interested in Easley’s Cannonsgate purchase, may want to know more about Bald Head Island, too.

• UNC System President Erskine Bowles. So far, the makework, six-figure job N.C. State University created for Mary Easley has affected only the Raleigh campus. But since former Board Chairman McQueen Campbell, former Provost Larry Nielsen, and former Chancellor James Oblinger have either appeared before the grand jury or cooperated with prosecutors, you never know how widely this infection may spread. Bowles is in charge of the UNC system. And he is a politically juiced, successful businessman with lengthy ties to the Democratic Party establishment. In recent years, several of those folks have spent a lot of time at the federal courthouse with defense lawyers in tow.

• The Golden LEAF Foundation. Two of Easley’s law partners are on the Golden LEAF board; until recently, a third Easley law partner was a board member. The former governor’s top fiscal policy adviser, Dan Gerlach, is the foundation’s president. State Auditor Beth Wood recently released a scathing audit of Golden LEAF, charging the foundation violated the state’s open meetings law and made potentially illegal investments. Board member Ruffin Poole, Easley’s law partner and general counsel, escaped testifying before the State Board of Elections; he’s less likely to duck the feds.

• Have You Seen This Attorney General? Roy Cooper hasn’t yet qualified for milk carton status, but during his tenure as AG, federal prosecutors have taken the lead in a host of investigations of state political scandals. Jim Black? Frank Ballance? Thomas Wright? Mike Easley? Cooper hasn’t had much to say in the early stages of those probes. The State Bureau of Investigation may have launched a criminal investigation of Tabor City Democratic Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. and his unusual relationships with young male legal clients. That said, media reports about Easley’s ethical corner-cutting began before he became governor, and Cooper showed little inclination to pursue those allegations.

• The North Carolina Democratic Party. The elections board gave the party a slap on the wrist, fining it $9,000 for improper campaign contributions it took from Easley donors. Still, with the exception of former state Rep. Michael Decker, every public official that’s done prison time in corruption probes over the past decade has been a Democrat. Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County, who will succeed Rand as majority leader, says he’ll make ethics reform a priority. Will the public buy that?

If 2009 was full of political twists, turns, and surprises, it may be nothing more than the warm-up act for 2010. Fasten your seat belts.