The week’s first Democratic gubernatorial debate prompted the News & Observer to seek reaction from John Hood. His comments appeared both in print and in the “Under The Dome” blog. N.C. Senate Republicans promoted in their daily press emails Hood’s columns this week on the importance of political philosophy and the definitions of “republic” and “democracy.” In other news, the Wilmington Star-News interviewed Becki Gray for an article about Wilmington’s potential hiring of a lobbying firm. A candidate questionnaire in the Hendersonville Times-News quoted a county commissioner candidate who cited the John Locke Foundation’s opposition to targeted tax incentives. A new North Carolina-centered free-trade report from the Heritage Foundation cites information from the N.C. History Project. Fergus Hodgson’s latest article for La Conexion focused on State Treasurer Janet Cowell’s performance and her out-of-state fundraising. A Winston-Salem Journal letter criticizing founding chairman Art Pope mentions the Locke Foundation.