Finally here: It’s primary day in North Carolina
After what seemed like forever, North Carolina voters go to the polls today to choose candidates for the fall elections. Β The race that is attracting the most attention here, of course, is the one for the US Senate – where several Republican candidates are vying for the chance to try to defeat incumbent Senator – and key crafter of the Obamacare bill – Kay Hagan (D) in the fall. Β NC General Assembly House Speaker Thom Tillis and OB-GYN Greg Brannon have consistently polled the highest in most polls taken over the last few months, but because there are so many candidates there is speculation that there may be a run-off because in order to win the primary here you must have at least 40% of the vote.
In any event, I cast my ballot today in the US Senate primary and the NC12 primary (where I know the GOP winner will have little hope of winning in the fall – Mel Watt’s district, FYI) at a local elementary school just as some of the kids were getting off their buses. Β One little girl said hello to me as she peered into the voting room (gym) with big eyes. It was so precious – and a refresher to anyone who may have forgotten that children are the ones whose futures we’re voting to protect.
Lord willing, I’ll be on later this evening to live-tweet polling results from NC as they come in on several races. Β Polls close at 7:30 ET. You can follow me here, and in the event I tweet too much, I’ll tweet here for NC results. Β Here’s the state’s official link for voting results.