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WAVE ROLLS INTO RALEIGH: Republicans made history on Election Day as they seized control of North Carolina's legislature for the first time in more than a century. (N&O)

GOP RULES JONES STREET: Republicans knocked down the doors of Jones Street Tuesday, changing the political landscape of one of the South's few remaining Democratic-dominated state capitals, Rob Christensen writes. (N&O)

ELLMERS EDGES ETHERIDGE, BURR BREAKS 'CURSE': Republican Renee Ellmers, a registered nurse and political newcomer, narrowly led U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge late Tuesday night, but Etheridge, who appeared to trail by little more than 1 percent, wasn't ready to concede. Other incumbents prevail. (N&O) And Republican Sen. Richard Burr easily defeated Democrat Elaine Marshall, holding onto a seat that has flip-flopped since 1968. (N&O)

Saying she’s in “a very winnable race,” Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elaine Marshall rallied about two dozen supporters at Mecklenburg County’s Democratic headquarters this morning.

“I’m fired up,” she said, after jogging across the parking lot from her campaign camper to the knot of supporters, reports Jim Morrill. “We have won. Democrats have won the early vote. We’ve got to conclude it tomorrow.”

Among her greeters were several elected officials and candidates as well as former Charlotte Mayor – and two-time Senate candidate – Harvey Gantt.

“Elaine, we’ve got your back,” Gantt said.

Marshall is challenging Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

She will appear in Cary this afternoon.

Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall was to have made 10 campaign stops from Winston-Salem to Lumberton Saturday, urging her supporters to work harder and criticizing Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

“The choice could not be clearer for the people of North Carolina,” Marshall told about three dozen campaign volunteers at a Democratic headquarters in Raleigh Saturday afternoon.

“I've taken on special interests, and he's taken from special interests,” Marshall said, alluding to her own record as secretary of state.

“If you want somebody who will stand up for the rank and file, for the middle class folks of America and North Carolina, those who are seeing the American dream slip through their fingertips, you need to talk on that telephone and get people out to vote.”

Marshall said Burr sees nothing wrong with the way Wall Street and BP operate and is willing takes their contributions. He voted 20 times for tax policies that reward companies that ship jobs overseas, she said.

She said North Carolina Democrats are doing “better than any place in the country” in turning out their voters.

“We have won October, but we also have to win November,” Marshall said.

Marshall campaign aides said that when early voting closed Saturday there were long lines in Democratic neighborhoods in Durham and Raleigh.

Early voting as of Friday showed that of the 862,126 people who voted, 46 percent were Democrats, 37 percent were Republicans and 17 percent were unaffiliated. About 20 percent of the voters were African-American, which if that trend were to continue would be in the high range, although below the 23 percent that turned out in the 2008 election to vote for Barack Obama for president.

Lindsay Siler, director of Organizing for America, the old Obama netowork, said the North Carolina Democrats had put together the most extensive volunteer effort ever seen in a mid-term election here.

Burr, meanwhile, was campaigning in the western part of the state with stops in Pinehurst, Stanly County, Monroe, Cornelius, Catawba and Lincolnton.

VOTER ANXIETY: In North Carolina, the mood in the electorate reflects a dark anxiety about the economic recovery beginning to take hold. Many residents around here see the economy edging toward a turnaround, but they also feel irritated - and angry - at how the federal government responded to the worst conditions since the Great Depression. (N&O)

CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES: Televised debates between incumbent Democratic congressmen and their Republican challengers highlighted the stark differences between candidates vying to represent Triangle residents in Washington next term. (N&O)

ASK ERSKINE: At some point during this Senate campaign, Erskine Bowles became the Oracle of Chapel Hill, Rob Christensen writes. Whenever they were asked how the budget should be balanced, Democrat Elaine Marshall and Republican Richard Burr have both replied: Ask Erskine. (N&O)

TESTY EXCHANGE: The N.C. Senate candidates engaged in a testy debate Thursday, complete with accusations of "gutter" politics and support for "governmental discrimination." (N&O)

TRUTH SQUAD: Republican Sen. Richard Burr and Democratic challenger Elaine Marshall clashed on a range of issues Thursday night. But did the candidates have their facts straight? (N&O)

CUTTING RED TAPE: No more dumb rules, Gov. Bev Perdue said Thursday. (N&O)

NASTY ADS: This election season has produced some of the roughest political advertising in legislative elections in recent memory. Now Republicans see the possibility of gaining control of the 170-seat legislature for the first time in 112 years, and Democrats are desperately trying to hang on. And the campaign smears have filtered down to legislative races in ways not seen before. (N&O)

SENATE DEBATES, ROUND 3: The major party candidates for U.S. Senate in North Carolina have another chance to speak directly to voters in a head-to-head matchup tonight. (AP)

STIMULUS STOP: At Duke University, some scientists call it "The Cliff." That's shorthand for next September, when federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act starts running out. (N&O)

The Senate race has tightened a bit, according to a new poll.

Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall has begun to close the gap against Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who leads by eight points, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm.

She trails 48-40, after a 13-point deficit against Burr three weeks ago.

PPP reports Marshall's standing has improved in her party. She has the support of 73 percent of Democrats, compared to 65 percent in the firm's last poll.

Burr's support remains steady at 48 percent, and he holds a 52-24 advantage with independents. If that continues, PPP suggested, it's difficult to imagine a scenario in which Marshall wins.

PPP surveyed 597 likely North Carolina voters Oct. 15-17. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

'EXTREMIST' THREAT?: Democrats and Republicans sought to rally their faithful Saturday ahead of the midterm elections, with the Republicans warning of a government careening out of control, and the Democrats cautioning against an "extremist" backlash. (N&O)

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE DEBATES: Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the two U.S. Senate debates last week is that they were held at all. It was by no means certain that a well-financed incumbent such as Republican Sen. Richard Burr would agree to debate a challenger, in this case Democrat Elaine Marshall. (N&O)

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CLAIM: It's been a mystery how SBI agent Mark Isley's career soared while evidence mounted that he fabricated a confession that forced a mentally disabled man to be locked away at a mental hospital for 14 years. Isley's climb is now clear, chronicled in a racial discrimination settlement  released Friday, months after The News & Observer first requested the documents. (N&O)

SPICY ROUND 2: The North Carolina Senate candidates sharpened their criticism in their second televised debate Wednesday, sparring on the Wall Street bailout, health care and the financing of elections. Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall showed more aggressiveness in painting Republican Sen. Richard Burr as a tool of Washington special interests, saying after 16 years in Congress he was too close to Wall Street and lobbyists. Marshall and Michael Beitler, the Libertarian candidate, went after Burr for his 2008 vote to bail out the Wall Street banks during the financial crisis. (N&O)

EARLY BIRDS: It's a major election though it's a nonpresidential year, and you don't have to wait any longer to cast your ballot: Early voting begins today across the state. (N&O)

UNC APPEAL: A prominent cancer researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill is fighting the demotion and pay cut she received after a computer server she oversees was hacked, exposing about 180,000 patient files. Bonnie Yankaskas, who holds a doctorate in epidemiology, says she should not be responsible for a lapse by the school's information technology staff. (N&O)

ACLU LAWSUIT: The American Civil Liberties Union says it's fighting for privacy and free speech rights in a lawsuit pitting North Carolina tax collectors against Amazon.com. (AP)

GRASSROOTS POLITICIAN: Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall's life has been more like a zigzag than a straight line, and it has involved far more than politics. (N&O)

ROUND 2: North Carolina's candidates for U.S. Senate are meeting for another televised debate, and this time it will include the state's third-party candidate. Republican Sen. Richard Burr, Democratic hopeful Elaine  Marshall and Libertarian candidate Mike Beitler will face off at 8 tonight in Raleigh. (AP)