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On Wednesday, the first of three televised gubernatorial debates will be held between Democrat Walter Dalton and Republican Pat McCrory. This is a key moment in particular for Dalton, the lieutenant governor, who trails the former Charlotte mayor in all the polls. The one-hour debate will begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast across the state. Rob Christensen gives his 10 questions for the candidates.

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--North Carolina’s next governor could determine whether the broad changes that are remaking the state’s environmental landscape – both political and natural – continue or are reined in. But both candidates are mostly silent on the issue.

--Five weeks before Election Day, the best place to get a snapshot of the presidential race in North Carolina might well be up here in the mountain towns of Watauga County. Unlike the Republican-red counties surrounding it, Watauga has turned purple in its politics – just like North Carolina, still one of nine battleground states in the 2012 contest between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

A new ad by the Republican Governors Association hit the airwaves in North Carolina today, criticizing Democratic candidiate for governor Walter Dalton for pushing a 15 percent sales tax increase -- which Dalton isn't actually pushing.

New York Times political blogger and polling aggregator Nate Silver puts North Carolina as favoring President Barack Obama for the first time this year, based on what he calls a streak of stronger polling for the president here.

Still, Silver expects the numbers to shift by election day, and forecasts that Mitt Romney will edge him out in NC in November.

Silver's blog, FiveThirtyEight, gives Obama a 52.5 percent to 46.5 percent lead in the total U.S. popular vote, based on current measures. He forecasts the final vote at 51.5 percent versus 47.4 percent, giving Obama 319.3 electoral votes and Romney 218.7.

Democrat Walter Dalton's effort to make race an issue in the governor's campaign reflects the lingering potency of what has historically been a hair-trigger issue in North Carolina. According to some, it also represents the continued use of race as a political tool.

“It’s firing up the base, that’s all (Dalton’s) trying to do,” said Gary Pearce, a Democratic strategist from Raleigh. “Dalton’s in a position where one of the big things he needs to do is get the base fired up, and he thinks he found a way to do it.” Read more here.

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--Acknowledging that Republicans have work to do to sway women voters, a group of “Women for Mitt” led by former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina talked about the presidential challenger Thursday.

A new NBC News/Marist poll released Thursday shows the presidential race in North Carolina deadlocked and Republican Pat McCrory cruising with a comfortable lead in the governor's race.

President Barack Obama received 48 percent to Mitt Romney's 46 percent among likely voters and held a 49-45 advantage among registered voters. The two-point margin is within the poll's 3.1-point margin of error.

McCrory took 52 percent of likely voters compared to 39 percent for Democrat Walter Dalton in the governor's race. The Sept. 23-25 survey -- which include voters undecided but leaning toward a candidate -- is surely disappointing for Dalton given that his two weeks of TV advertising did not appear to help his cause. 

The Romney campaign continues to target suburban women – this time the Charlotte area with Carly Fiorina.

Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO and Senate candidate, will appear Thursday at a Women for Mitt event in Huntersville. She will be joined by a group of women who worked with Mitt Romney while he was governor of Massachusetts.

The Romney campaign had a similar event in Apex on Monday with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Suburban women are key demographic among undecided voters and both presidential campaigns are targeting them.

Republican Mitt Romney responds to his much-maligned "47 percent" remarks at a private fundraiser with a new minute-long TV ad running in North Carolina.

"Both President Obama and I care about poor and middle class families. The difference is my policies will make things better for them," Romney says, talking directly to the camera, no cutaways and no tiny-font credits in the corner. The ad is called "Too Many Americans."

President Barack Obama is running a TV ad in the state that uses footage from the fundraiser to attack Romney.

UPDATED: President Barack Obama is releasing a new TV commercial in North Carolina featuring the video from a Mitt Romney fundraiser in which he makes the now-infamous "47 percent remark."

The new commercial is airing in eight swing states. Titled "Fair Share," it shows pictures of a teacher, police officer and firefighter, suggesting these are the people Romney dismissed with his flippant remarks about who pays income taxes.

In the latest faceoff for one of the most competitive congressional seats in the country, the 8th District candidates sparred Monday over Medicare, Social Security and other issues crucial to senior citizens.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell said he opposes any changes to those two programs, while Republican Richard Hudson said he’d favor offering retirement “choices” to those now his age (40) and younger. Full debate story here.

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--South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a simple message Monday for undecided North Carolina women: Jobs and the economy should trump social issues when it comes to deciding the next president.

Sen. Marco Rubio -- one of the GOP's rising stars -- is scheduled to be in Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon for a Romney-Ryan "Victory Rally," The Charlotte Observer reports. The Florida Republican will speak to Mitt Romney supporters at 1:45 p.m. at SteelFab, Inc., 8623 Old Dowd Road, according to an email from the Romney campaign.

Rubio was among those considered by Romney as a running mate. The Cuban-American lawmaker, who introduced Romney at the recent Republican National Convention in Tampa, is also touted as a future presidential candidate.