• Get ready for a (partial) replay of the 2012 campaign. The Washington Post reports that former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is in high demand to stump for Republican candidates for senator, and is expected to make at least one stop in North Carolina Aug. 18 on Thom Tillis’ behalf. As this space has noted earlier, most Democrats want President Obama nowhere near their public events.
• Meantime, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a former and potential future Republican presidential candidate, made a brief stop on Figure 8 Island and met with David Rouzer, the Republican nominee for the 7th U.S. Congressional District.
• We wish incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan a speedy recovery from last week’s emergency eye surgery. She’s expected to return to full activity soon.
• U.S. News looks at seven contested Senate seats, including North Carolina’s as it reviews the state of the race for the Senate nationally.
• In the only election contest for Supreme Court pitting two registered Republicans against one another, Associate Justice Mark Martin won the endorsement of the state GOP executive committee over District Court Judge Ola Lewis.