The Legionnaires are no longer with us.

Since January, the Legion of Dome has been graced with the presence of five correspondents who helped us cover the 2008 gubernatorial primary and other political news.

They were chosen through a partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill's journalism program.

Karin Dryhurst, a recent graduate, should have earned extra credit towards a degree in constitutional law for covering Bob Orr. She proved her mettle with the governor's press office over an item on Easley not showing his colors.

Sam Wineka, a recent graduate, taught us a lot about how Bill Graham spends his millions: A 12,000-square-foot house, dresses owned by Princess Di and an office building for his consultant. Not to mention how he earned his money.

Cori Sue Morris, a recent graduate, sparred with the governor's press office over a pronoun slip that turned out to be meaningful after all. She also cornered Kenneth Starr over representing Blackwater at Campbell University.

Matt Tomsic, a rising senior, dug into Fred Smith's business ventures, learning about how he built roads, ran a steakhouse and checked his employees' immigration status. He also checked into Smith's somewhat surprising reading list.

Emily Stephenson, a rising junior, researched Beverly Perdue's extensive legislative record, and covered two Barack Obama rallies and Thomas Wright's expulsion. She also caught a candidate essentially admitting to smoking in the boys room.

If the future of journalism depends on the likes of these correspondents, we're in good hands. We wish them the best of luck in their careers. They will be sorely missed.

The polls closed at 7:30 p.m., but some voters were willing to wait.

More than 400 people waited to vote outside Ebenezer United Methodist Church on Rock Quarry Road in Raleigh. The crowd was largely African American and most people came from work.

Under North Carolina law, anyone in line when the polls close can cast a ballot. Some waited two hours to vote.

Every person Dome interviewed was voting Obama for president.

Marcus Turner and his friend Teon Rawles came from work to vote for Obama. Although CNN had announced Obama's win, they said they would wait to vote.

"I'm still waiting in line to vote for Obama, said Michelle Green. "Whatever it takes to make a difference, Lord knows the world needs it."

More after the jump.

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Kay Hagan announced today that her campaign has raised $1.5 million since her candidacy began in October.

Hagan's campaign said that almost $1 million has been raised since January, and that 85 percent of her individual contributins came from North Carolina residents.

Hagan, a state senator from Greensboro, faces Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate.

"Our strong fundraising effort ensures we’ll have the resources necessary to move through the primary into the general election, to talk to more and more voters, travel the state, and continue building momentum to victory," Hagan said.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's campaign announced today that it has raised $1,850,000 in 2008.

"We are very excited about the large fundraising foundation Senator Dole is establishing for the election," said J. Sam Daniels, Dole's campaign manager. "More than 13,000 new donors joined the Dole Team in just the past 106 days."

The Young Democrats of North Carolina are calling on presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to debate in the state.

"It is time North Carolina is given the opportunity to be fully engaged in this Democratic primary," said Zach Hawkins, the group's president.

"The issues facing NC are much too serious and need to be addressed, especially those facing young North Carolinians."

The North Carolina Federation of College Democrats is in agreement, says President Douglas Massengill.

Their call to action comes after a debate was proposed for April 27 at the RBC Center in Raleigh. The Obama campaign has not yet agreed to the date.

The Raleigh-Wake Citizens' Association and the Black Leadership Roundtable of High Point have endorsed Hampton Dellinger. 

The Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor announced the endorsements from two black voters' groups today.

"I have made achieving greater economic and social justice a centerpiece of my career and my campaign, and I am honored to have both groups’ backing," he said in a press release.

Earlier this month, the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg endorsed Dellinger.

He has also been endorsed by the Communication Workers of America and the United Transportation Union, the state chapter of the AFL-CIO and NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina.

WRAL's advertising bills are in for early April.

Candidates for president, governor and Senate have spent thousands of dollars targeting Raleigh viewers. Once again, Richard Moore took the lead as the big spender on the Triangle-area station.

Here are the candidates' expenditures so far this month:

Richard Moore, governor: $98,995 for ads airing April 1-8.

Beverly Perdue, governor: $92,061 for ads March 31- April 14.

Barack Obama, president: $85,135 for ads March 31- April 20.

Hillary Clinton, president: $41,630 for ads April 4-10.

Kay Hagan, senator: $30,075 for ads April 9-14.

Pat McCrory, governor: $28,200 for ads March 31- April 11.

The WRAL advertisements aired throughout the day during news and entertainment programs including "The Young and the Restless," "Dr. Phil," "The Price is Right," "David Letterman" and "The Early Show."

Richard Moore had some money on the NCAA tournament.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate spent $12,000 on a single ad during the UNC-Kansas game on April 5, according to WRAL's public records.

Unfortunately, the Tar Heels' poor show during the Final Four game meant the ad was viewed by many disgruntled basketball fans.

This isn't the first time Moore spent big bucks to target men's basketball fans. He spent $11,000 on ads during UNC and Duke games the weekend of March 21-22.

Perdue has also target sports fans, but spent only $1,500 for one ad during the Maryland-Boston College ACC Tournament game.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, meantime, spent $12,000 on an ad during the UNC-Kansas game and another $15,000 on an ad during the championship game between Kansas and Memphis.

Beverly Perdue is hitting the campaign trail.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate will meet with supporters to back-to-back gatherings in Greenville, Lumberton and Raleigh Saturday afternoon.

Two of the events will take place at supporters' homes; the third, at a tea room.

"Can you feel the elecricity in the air?" notes a press release on the events. "Spring is here and North Carolinians are on the verge of experiencing the most exciting primary election in decades."

The March cable bills are in for the Democratic gubernatorial candidates.

Beverly Perdue owed $40,000 in advertisements to Time Warner Cable while Richard Moore owed $41,000.

Perdue's March bill is significantly higher than January, when she spent only $4,000 on basic cable advertising.

Her campaign continued its strategy of focusing mainly on news channels, but it also began targeting sports fans. She split the large majority of her cable advertising between CNN, MSNBC and ESPN.

As noted previously, both candidates aimed for basketball fans during March Madness on Triangle-area broadcast channel WRAL. 

Perdue also had ads on entertainment channels like Lifetime, TNT and USA.

Moore narrowed down his broad range of ads from 14 channels in January to nine in March. He bought air-time on a wide variety of channels including BET, The Food Network, Lifetime, CNN, USA, and MSNBC.