• In the Democratic primary battle for lieutenant governor, Buncombe County Commissioner Holly Jones has lined up endorsements from the Winston-Salem Journal, Indy Week, and former UNC-Chapel Hill and NBA star Sam Perkins (Jones was a student manager of the 1982 national champion men’s basketball team), but not longtime County Commissioner Cecil Bothwell. Bothwell endorsed Ron Newton instead. Read Carolina Journal‘s profile of the candidates here.
• The State Board of Elections is getting ready just in case we have to hold a primary election for the state Supreme Court post held by Bob Edmunds. The General Assembly passed legislation replacing the regular election in which several candidates face one another with a retention election in which voters give incumbent justices an up-or-down vote, but a three-judge Superior Court panel said the new law was unconstitutional. The elections board will meet Thursday to establish rules for candidate filing if that trial court ruling stands and the state must hold a regular election after all.
• Early voting in North Carolina continues through Saturday, but this article from The Atlantic Monthly points out some of the problems with early voting in races where candidates are little-known and the electoral field is volatile.
• In the money race, presumed U.S. Senate front-runners Richard Burr (the incumbent) and Deborah Ross look to have significant leads over their Republican and Democratic challengers, respectively. Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper continues collecting more campaign cash than GOP incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory.