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Republican Greg Brannon will hold a series of house party's this summer as he cranks up his campaign to challenge U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan in 2014. "We are taking this campaign directly to living rooms and backyards across our beautiful state where I can hear exactly what is on people’s minds and talk to them about my vision for our state and our country," he said in a statement.

Brannon, a Cary physician, is the lone announced Republican candidate trying to oust the Democratic incumbent -- though others are expected to join him. (Looking at you, Thom Tillis.) Brannon, who has aligned himself with the tea party, started his house party tour in Winston-Salem this week and comes to Raleigh on May 31 for an event at the home of Rick Gardner. In June, he will hold two more events in Raleigh and another in Cary. See the full list here.

HOUSE TO UNVEIL TAX PLAN OUTLINE:House Republicans plan to offer their own North Carolina tax overhaul plan Thursday that would reduce personal and corporate income tax rates and expand the sales tax to cover more services. The proposal's scope is much narrower than what Senate counterparts offered as GOP legislators try to fulfill a commitment to carry out tax reform this year.

The plan attempts to simplify income taxes and reduces the number of income tax brackets from three to one, according to the proposed legislation obtained by The Associated Press. House Republican leaders want to reduce slightly the combined state and local sales tax consumers in most counties pay from 6.75 percent to 6.65 percent. They also would subject the sales tax to a handful of new services such as automobile repairs and installations for personal property and warranty and service contracts, the bill says. In contrast, the Senate proposal unveiled last week would make the sales tax base one of the broadest in the country. More here.

NORQUIST TO BLESS SENATE TAX EFFORT: Americans for Tax Reform leader Grover Norquist will stand with Senate leader Phil Berger at a 9:30 a.m. press conference Thursday to talk about the Senate's tax rewrite. The visit is being coordinated by Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group that pushing hard for a major tax overhaul measure this session. Opposition groups already are framing the visit, saying Norquist will support a bill that could raise taxes on a majority of people in the long-term. A luncheon with tax activists outside the legislature will follow later in the day.

Good Morning! This Dome Morning Memo is (unofficially) brought to you by Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee -- which is much needed after the House worked near midnight to beat the crossover deadline on a bevy of controversial bills in a 10-hour session. If you went to bed early, click below for all the North Carolina political news and analysis.***

North Carolina's U.S. Senate race is trending more safely in Kay Hagan's direction compared to the other competitive contests in 2014, according to one pundit.

The Washington Post's Fix blog now ranks the race No. 6 in a list of those most likely to switch parties. (No. 1 is the most likely.)

The N.C. race ranked No. 4 in March. And Hagan, a freshman who rode into office on the 2008 Obama ticket, isn't looking like the most vulnerable incumbent, either. Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas earns that designation, Fix says, ranking the race No. 3. The top two races are open seats.

Rev. Mark Harris, the pastor of Charlotte’s First Baptist Church, said Monday he’s listening to those who want him to run for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination next year.

Harris met in Charlotte last week with about 70 people from around 20 North Carolina counties who are trying to draft him to run, the Observer's Jim Morrill reports. “I’m certainly humbled and flattered by the confidence that these folks have expressed,” he said. “It’s a little bit overwhelming to be honest. Right now we’re doing two things. One … doing a lot of listening to people and the second and most importantly to me is just to pray and seek God’s leadership … and see if that’s his plan for me.”

Harris announced that to his congregation at the end of Sunday’s church service, and walked off to a standing ovation. More here.

In an unvarnished speech, Republican state Rep. Larry Pittman recently expressed doubts about the House speaker's conservative credentials, saying Thom Tillis' possible U.S. Senate bid is making it difficult to push legislation.

"I was proud to vote for Thom Tillis to be the speaker again, when we got back up there this year," Pittman told a crowd of activists in a video posted online. "Because last session, he was great. ... But, now he's running for U.S. Senate, or planning to, things have changed.

"They tell us all the time about how bad it was when they were in the minority and the Democratic leadership wouldn't let them get their bills moved or anything. Well now the constitutional conservatives, the Republican part of the House, knows what that's like." (See video above, starting at 11 minute mark.)

A Tillis spokesman said the claim is "inaccurate" and emphasized that the speaker has not made a decision about whether he would challenge Democrat Kay Hagan in 2014. UPDATED: Tillis wouldn't talk about Pittman's remarks. "I disagree with Rep. Pittman and that's my only comment," he said.

Pittman, a Concord lawmaker in his second term, said the speaker's office pressured Rep. Carl Ford to drop a resolution he sponsored that asserted North Carolina's right to establish its own religion. Tillis declared the bill dead shortly after it was introduced. "Carl was told very plainly you will withdraw this ... if you want any of your other bills passed," Pittman said. "That's exactly what he was told."

House Speaker Thom Tillis is a lame-duck lawmaker but he's busy raising money, which surely fuels speculation that he is getting closer to a possible U.S. Senate run.

Tillis, a Republican, is holding a fundraiser May 6 at the Cardinal Club in Raleigh. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is the special guest for the lunch-time event. Hosts are asked to donate $2,000 with individual tickets at $250, according to a copy of the invite. The money goes to the Committee to Elect Thom Tillis.

Hosts include John Kane, J. Patrick Gavaghan, Gene Minton and Harry Smith. Sponsors (at the $1,000 level) are Elbert Boyd, Dean Proctor and John Stone.

Gov. Pat McCrory helped the speaker raise money earlier this year. Tillis, whose self-imposed term limits make this his final two-year session, said he is considering a bid against Democrat Kay Hagan in 2014.

State lawmakers can raise money during session but can't accept contributions from political action committees.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AT LEGISLATURE: Clergy and students will participate in an act of civil disobedience Monday at the Legislative Building "in response to the collective acts of the legislature," said the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP. The action, from 5 p.m.- 6 p.m., will be a "form of a pray-in," Barber said. The House convenes at 4 p.m., the Senate at 7 p.m. The NAACP has opposed the legislative actions reducing unemployment benefits, state House approval of photo voter ID, and other legislative measures.

FOXX TO TAKE OBAMA POST: President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate Mayor Anthony Foxx to be secretary of transportation, a White House official said Sunday on the condition of anonymity. The nomination of Foxx, whose city hosted last year’s Democratic National Convention, would make him the only African-American selected for a Cabinet opening in Obama’s second term. (More below.)

***Good morning. Welcome to the Dome Morning Memo -- a full roundup of North Carolina political news and analysis below. ***

N.C. Democrats are reveling is the Republican disorder for the 2014 U.S. Senate race.

In a memo Tuesday, N.C. Democratic Party operative Ben Ray argued that Kay Hagan "finds herself in an increasingly strong position" as the GOP struggles to identify a front-runner for the primetime race. "Just over one year from the Republican primary, two things are clear:  Republicans aren’t going to get their strongest potential candidates, and whoever emerges from their primary field to face Senator Hagan will be battered and broke," writes Ray, the party's new rapid response director. "The GOP field has already suffered several setbacks, with Congressmen George Holding and Patrick McHenry each announcing that they would pass on the race.  Holding has substantial personal wealth, and McHenry consistently performed well in public polling.  With the failure of a top-tier candidate to materialize, the NRSC is left facing a cavalry charge of candidates unprepared for the challenges ahead."

UNC-CHAPEL HILL TO GET FIRST WOMAN CHANCELLOR: As first reported by The News & Observer, UNC system officials will name Carol Folt, the interim president of Dartmouth College, as the next chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Folt, 61, would be the first woman to lead the campus in Chapel Hill, where the 29,000-member student body is 58 percent female. She will succeed Holden Thorp, who is stepping down by July 1 to become provost at Washington University in St. Louis. Full story.

McHENRY WON'T CHALLENGE HAGAN: N.C. Congressman Patrick McHenry took his name out of the crowded field of potential challengers to Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, who faces re-election in 2014. Polls put McHenry in the top half of Republicans. "I'm grateful for the good numbers, but I think I've got a better opportunity to make a difference here in the House," McHenry told the Mountain Xpress in Asheville. "I want to end the distraction about this potential Senate run so I can get back and focus on the work that I need to be doing to help get this economy going."

***Good morning. Thanks for reading the Friday edition of the Dome Morning Memo. Much more N.C political news and analysis below.***

North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat slipped a notch in a ranking of the most vulnerable seats in 2014.

The Washington Post's Fix politics blog put Democrat Kay Hagan at No. 5 most vulnerable, a spot safer than last month. Louisiana Sen. Mary Laundrieu moved ahead in the rankings after the Republican field became a touch more clear. (The seat most likely to flip parties is the open seat in West Virginia.)

Here's the handicapping for Hagan's seat: "Sen. Kay Hagan (D) recently came out in favor of gay marriage – a somewhat dicey proposition in a Southern state that just went for Mitt Romney in the presidential race. The Tar Heel State, much like Montana, so far features a lesser-known crop of GOP lawmakers, including state Senate President Phil Berger, state House Speaker Thom Tillis, second-term Rep. Renee Ellmers and state Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry."