• Starting Tuesday, daily campaign updates will be cross-posted on JLF’s Meck Deck blog for the week. Be sure to visit Meck Deck, which starting Monday will be the home for Carolina Journal’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
• A new Civitas poll says GOP gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory has a big lead among independents over Democrat Walter Dalton. Many independents know little about the lieutenant governor.
• McCrory, Charlotte’s former mayor, will be fielding press calls and doing interviews during the DNC. The GOP’s candidate for governor played a similar role in 2004.
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention, will campaign the week after the DNC in North Carolina with McCrory.
• Chris Malone and Lori Millberg, the Republican and Democratic candidates respectively for state House Distrct 35 in Wake County, have raised $35,000 altogether for their campaigns, according to recent election filings.
• The Sportsman and Animal Owners’ Voting Alliance joined the National Rifle Association in endorsing Democrat Hayden Rogers in the 11th Congressional District.
