hagan

• In a preview of the 2016 race for control of the U.S. Senate, the Washington Post again suggests ousted Tar Heel Kay Hagan is “ready-made” for a run against two-term GOP incumbent Richard Burr. The story also notes that, here and in other states where Democrats look to pick up seats, the gap between top-tier candidates and likely also-rans is huge.

• In a blog post about its North Carolina polling, the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling mentions, as an aside, that Democrats in the General Assembly have lower favorability numbers than their Republican colleagues.

• If you wondered how the controversial “voter shaming” tactic works, Campaigns & Elections explains how Planned Parenthood did it in North Carolina, along with similar efforts in New Mexico and New York.

• In Forbes, economist Richard Vedder, a regular presenter at the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society series, praises Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th District, and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., for higher education reforms they’ve proposed as members of the new Republican majority in Congress.

• Rowan County Republican Party activist Wes Rhinier, a self-described “constitutionalist,” asked his county party executive committee to censure U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-8th District, for failing to support the party’s platform and working with Democrats in the House. Outgoing party chairman John Leatherman refused to put the item on the agenda for the January meeting. Rhinier plans to challenge Hudson in the 2016 GOP primary.