• It’s second primary, er, runoff day! Be sure to vote (if there’s a race in your area). Polls close at 7:30. Carolina Journal Online will have a full wrap-up tomorrow morning.
• The Greensboro News & Record‘s Doug Clark muses on how unaffiliated voters could affect the 6th Congressional District GOP runoff between Phil Berger Jr. and Mark Walker, and the implications of a completely open primary process in North Carolina.
• The U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision just rose in importance in the U.S. Senate race, as incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan joined an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass legislation forcing all private businesses to offer all contraceptive services as part of the Affordable Care Act. Her Republican opponent Thom Tillis supports the Hobby Lobby ruling.
• Former state Transportation Secretary Tom Bradshaw, the Democratic nominee for state Senate District 15, has raised more than $170,000 in his campaign for the seat vacated by the retiring GOP Sen. Neal Hunt. Dr. Jim Fulghum, the Republican nominee, left the race last week as he battles cancer, and Wake County Republicans have not selected a replacement for the November ballot. District 15 may be one of the best opportunities for Democrats to gain a seat in the General Assembly.
