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Department of Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan still has some clients from his law firm, despite a full plate running a state agency.

Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers was elected as an outsider. But she faces a competitive field if she runs for Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan's seat in 2014.

Public school advocates form to stop legislative proposals they contend would undermine public education.

A federal lawsuit says 21 correctional officers at Central Prison beat handcuffed and shackled prisoners, The Associated Press reports.

A coalition of groups, led by the NAACP, Friday denounced legislation that would make it harder to vote in North Carolina, promising to wage a vigorous campaign against the proposed new restrictions.

“These bills are about politicians manipulating elections for their own partisan gains,” said the Rev. William Barber, the state NAACP president. “These bills will block hundreds of North Carolinians from voting.''

He said a similar law in Florida last year, lead to eight-hour lines for voters and according to one study 200,000 people giving up and not voting.

Allison Riggs, an attorney for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice said a similar law was struck down in Ohio.

A coalition of groups on Wednesday renewed their call for the General Assembly to abandon any attempts at requiring voters have a photo ID or other additional documentation. They vowed to fight any such legislation through the upcoming session and into the courts, if necessary.

North Carolina Republicans turned out a slightly higher rate than did Democrats in the November election, according to a new survey of turnout figures.

The Republicans turned out 73 percent, while Democrats turned out at 70 percent, according to Democracy North Carolina, a Durham-based election reform group.

The two groups with the most enthusiasm were African-American women and white Republicans who both voted at a 74 percent, well ahead of the 68 percent rate.

“The presidential election was a polarizing, emotional experience for core supporters of both major candidates,” Bob Hall, the group's executive director. “Candidates, parties and interest groups invested in mobilizing voters and helped them understand that their vote was important for themselves and for society.''

Democrats, the state NAACP, and other nonprofits who are suing over redistricting plans want Supreme Court Judge Paul Newby to recuse himself from participating in the case.

They filed a motion Wednesday saying that individuals and political groups with a direct stake in the outcome of the redistricting case spent heavily to support his re-election, and their support "had a significant and disproportionate influence in Justice Newby's victory."

More than 60,000  North Carolina teenagers will be eligible to vote this November thanks to a state law allowing people to pre-register as young as 16 years old.

An analysis by Democracy N.C. indicates 30 percent are affiliating with the Democratic Party and the same amount are signing up with the Republican Party. One percent is aligning with the Libertarian Party, and 39 percent are choosing none.

UPDATED: A fundraising invite for House Speaker Thom Tillis sent earlier this month announced a special "appreciation" event for the special interest political committees that lobby at the statehouse. The cost: $4,000, the maximum contribution.

It underlines Republican legislative leaders huge reliance on PACs for campaign money. According to a Democracy North Carolina report released Thursday, GOP leaders Tillis and Phil Berger raised more money from the special interest groups than their Democratic predecessors.

About 36 percent of Tillis' $946,000 raised so far this election cycle came from PACs. For Berger, the Senate leader, PACs contributed one-third of his $974,000, according to the advocacy group, which supports public campaign financing. In their last term in power, Democratic House and Senate leaders raised no more than one-quarter of their money from PACs, the report said.

An attorney for Americans for Prosperity is asking the State Board of Elections to dismiss outright a request for information regarding its recent television advertisements, calling it harassment.

Bob Hall with Democracy North Carolina, a liberal advocacy group, asked the state's election agency to clarify whether the ads count as electioneering communications because they mention Gov. Bev Perdue, who still has an open campaign account. If they count, AFP would need to disclose donors. (More background here.)

In a letter to the state elections agency, Steven Long, AFP's attorney, wrote that "frivolous and baseless complaints motivated by the desire to harass, such as the one presented by Mr. Hall, amount to an abuse of process and should be rejected summarily by the state board to send a signal that more authority than one man's unfounded conjecture is required to merit the state board's time and attention."

Read the full letter below. Gary Bartlett, the election agency executive director, said he expects to respond to Hall's request early this week.

Bob Hall at Democracy North Carolina is asking the N.C. State Board of Elections for a legal clarification about the Americans for Prosperity Foundation TV and radio advertisements on the state budget.

Hall's liberal group is no fan of the conservative AFP. But he raises an interesting question about who constitutes a candidate under state election laws. If a candidate is mentioned, the ads would qualify as electioneering communications and the sponsor would have to meet disclosure requirements for expenditures and donors. AFP hasn't filed disclosure forms because its 501c3 nonprofit affiliate, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, paid for the "educational" advertisement.

The question revolves around whether Gov. Bev Perdue -- who is mentioned and in the advertisement -- still qualifies as a candidate even though she is not seeking re-election.

The House Republican Caucus plans to hold a fund raiser Wednesday, taking advantage of the 24-day legislative recess – a move that drew criticism from a watch dog group.

The caucus plans to hold an event at 18 Seaboard Restaurant in Raleigh, with the cost ranging from $500 to $5,000 for PACs.

House Speaker Thom Tillis's general counsel had solicited an advisory opinion from the State Board of Elections shortly before the legislature adjourned giving them the go-ahead to accept contributions from “limited contributors” other than lobbyists when the legislature is in recess for more than 10 days.

State law prohibits registered lobbyists from giving directly to legislators at any time, but the law also says agents and sponsors of lobbyists and their PACS can give when the legislature is not in session.

The event, called “A New Day for North Carolina,” features Tillis, House Majority Leader Paul Stam, House Majority Whip Ruth Samuelson, and Wake Reps. Nelson Dollar, Marilyn Avila and Tom Murry.

In a fund raising letter, Rep. Darrell McCormick of Yadkinville, writes that “this committee can not accept contributions from lobbyists and is not asking for such. We are providing you with a copy of this information simply to inform you and request that you pass the information along to any interested parties and recommend support where appropriate.”

Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a watch dog group, said “this kind of fundraising symbolizes the pay-to-play culture that Republicans said they would stamp out if they won control of the General Assembly.”

“They are already so consumed by the chase for campaign money that they are either clueless or they don't care that this event looks like cashing in on legislation delivered or still pending,” Hall said.

Protesters plan to picket the fund raiser outside the event Wednesday.