Dispatches from the campaign trail, October 15, 2014

• U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a likely 2016 presidential candidate, appears in an ad from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of Republican Thom Tillis in the Senate race. The Chamber has endorsed Tillis.

http://youtu.be/PLMo_tfK0CY

• Another federal judge invalidates Amendment One, the North Carolina referendum banning gay marriage. But the judge allows Tillis (as speaker of the House) and state Senate leader Phil Berger to intervene.

• MyFox8’s Bob Buckley conducted separate interviews with Tillis and incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan.

• John Locke Foundation Chairman John Hood weighs in on the reporting (and lack of local media attention) regarding the federal stimulus and energy grants received by businesses owned by Hagan’s family members. If you have not had a chance to catch up with Carolina Journal’s reporting on the Hagan businesses, the stories are here, here, here, and here.

• Superior Court Judge Don Stephens rules that the Watauga County Board of Elections must operate an early voting site on the campus of Appalachian State University. The board had removed the location, but Stephens said students should be able to cast ballots at the university.