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• Twenty-seven candidates — 12 Republicans, 11 Libertarians, and four Democrats — will appear on the March 15 presidential primary ballot. The State Board of Elections released the list Tuesday. Candidates will be listed alphabetically, beginning with names starting with “H.” (State law requires the first letter of the last name to be chosen randomly.)

• Spring Lake Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Chris Rey, a Democrat, issued a press release supporting President Obama’s executive actions on gun control. Meantime, the state Republican Party and state Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, issued statements urging Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper (who’s running against incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory) to fight the president’s moves.

• It’s early in the campaign season (despite perceptions to the contrary), but Rasmussen Reports already has found an enthusiasm gap among partisans. The group’s latest survey of 1,000 likely voters finds Republicans more “jazzed” than Democrats about the 2016 race. Seventy-one percent of Republicans are excited about the campaign season, compared with 50 percent of Democrats. And Democrats are more likely to be fed up with the campaign than Republicans, with 44 percent of Democrats ready for the election to be over compared with 25 percent of Republicans. Interestingly, unaffiliated voters’ attitudes about the race more closely mirror Democrats than Republicans.