hagan-tillis

• Citing last year’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democratic loser Kay Hagan and Republican winner Thom Tillis, Roll Call notes that competitive primaries can sharpen challengers (like Tillis) to run a successful general election race against an incumbent — so long as the primary winner unites the party and is someone unaffiliated voters can support. Tillis won an eight-way primary before defeating Hagan, who faced no serious Democratic opponent.

• There’s a North Carolina connection to the recent news that Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., will resign from Congress March 31 after his spending proclivities raised ethics concerns. The Washington Post reports that Shock made few friends within his own caucus, and his decision in leadership elections to snub fellow Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam in favor of eventual House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana helped 10th District Republican Patrick McHenry (a Scalise ally) rise to the role of chief deputy whip.

• If the General Assembly goes ahead with plans in 2016 for a stand-alone presidential primary, local governments would have to pick up at least some of the costs of running a separate election. It wouldn’t be cheap: Mecklenburg County projects it would have to come up with an extra $500,000 just to pay for the presidential primary.

• Addressing the Wake County GOP convention Tuesday night, Gov. Pat McCrory struck a moderate tone, repeating the message from his 2012 campaign that he’s an “Eisenhower Republican.”