• He’s in! In a development surprising no one, four-term Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, confirmed Saturday that he will challenge incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016. Cooper made the announcement at the meeting of 8th Congressional District Democrats, adding that a formal launch to his campaign will happen soon.
• Roll Call’s Nathan Gonzales recounts the daily onslaught of emails he received during the previous campaign from Democrats attacking now-U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. While noting that the messages kept Tillis on the defensive, Rothenberg Gonzales fails to ask the consultants who produced these emails an important question: What if persuadable voters treated the emails as noise, or nothing more than spam, and simply tuned them out?
• Speaking of figurative carpet bombing, WFMY-TV in Greensboro reports that you’re likely to see campaign ads on your Facebook feed in the coming election cycle. Oh, the humanity.
• While as many as 19 Republicans will seek their party’s 2016 presidential nomination, one key Tar Heel State lawmaker has made his preference clear: Deputy House Majority Whip Patrick McHenry, R-10th, has ushered former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush around Washington. The Wall Street Journal notes that McHenry worked in the administration of President George W. Bush, Jeb’s brother.