Barack Obama won at least 63 delegates in North Carolina.

NBC News and Real Clear Politics both calculate his campaign picking up 63 delegates to Hillary Clinton's 47 delegates based on primary results. Another five remain to be allocated.

Obama won the state, 56 to 42 percent. Thirty-eight delegates were divvied up based on that spread, and 77 were awarded based on the percentages in each Congressional district.

Obama won the 1st (Butterfield), 2nd (Etheridge) 4th (Price), 8th (Hayes), 9th (Myrick), 12th (Watt), 13th (Miller). His biggest wins were in the 12th (78 percent), 4th (66 percent), 1st (63 percent). Not coincidentally, Butterfield, Price and Watt endorsed him.

(Miller's district had the fourth biggest Obama win, with 63 percent, but he remains neutral.)

Meantime, Hillary Clinton won the 3rd (Jones), 5th (Foxx), 6th (Coble), 7th (McIntyre), 10th (McHenry) and 11th (Shuler). Her biggest wins were the 10th (61 percent), 5th (56 percent) and 11th (55 percent). Because of her win, Shuler endorsed her.

Except for Shuler and McIntyre, all of those districts are represented by Republicans.

How will the Congressional districts go in the presidential primary?

It's not an academic exercise. Two thirds of the state's pledged delegates — or 77 — will be distributed to either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton based on their percentages in each of the state's 13 Congressional districts.

The Democratic polling wonks at 538.com have run the numbers and predict the following:

Obama: 1st (Butterfield), 2nd (Etheridge) 4th (Price), 8th (Hayes), 9th (Myrick), 12th (Watt), 13th (Miller)

Clinton: 5th (Foxx), 6th (Coble), 10th (McHenry)

Delegate Tie: 3rd (Jones), 7th (McIntyre), 11th (Shuler)

By their count, that would leave Obama with 44 of the Congressional district delegates and Clinton with 33. However, they estimate much more favorable results for Obama than recent polls suggest, in part because they rely more on demographics.

The state also has 38 delegates that will be distributed based on the voting percentage statewide, 17 superdelegates and two delegates to be elected at the state convention in June.

Earlier: Tom Jensen's predictions. 

Joyce Brayboy has endorsed Barack Obama.

The Democratic superdelegate, whose day job is as a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist, made the decision recently.

Previously, she told Dome that she would study both candidates' electability and their stances on health care and education before making a decision.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield and two other superdelegates, Everett Ward and Dannie Montgomery, are also backing Obama, while Charlotte City Councilwoman Susan Burgess backs Hillary Clinton.

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt will make a public endorsement.

The Charlotte Democrat says that he's decided to endorse either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton before the May 6 primary, but he won't say who it is just yet.

"Sometime between now and May 5, I'm going to endorse somebody and try to lead my constituents in that direction," he told the Charlotte Observer.

When he announces, he says he'll try to move his constituents to back his candidate. If they disproportionately vote the other way, he may switch his superdelegate vote to the winner of his Congressional district.

According to a quick survey of polling results, Obama currently leads in Watt's 12th Congressional District. The majority-black district, which stretches from Greensboro to Charlottte along Interstate 85, is important because it has seven delegates.

Previously: Watt is one of five endorsements that would matter; doubts America is ready for a black president.

Barack Obama has an odd's-on advantage in North Carolina.

Based on an early look at polling in the state's Congressional districts, the Democratic presidential candidate appears to have an advantage in five of the seven districts with an odd number of delegates.

Those districts are important because even a narrow victory in them gives the winner an extra delegate.

According to a quick study by Public Policy Polling, Obama leads in these odd-numbered districts: 4th (Price), 6th (Coble), 8th (Hayes), 12th (Watt) and 13th (Miller).

Hillary Clinton leads in two odd-numbered districts: 5th (Foxx) and 10th (McHenry).

Update: If Jensen's predictions are correct, Obama would have between a 5- and 11-delegate lead in those apportioned by Congressional district, depending on the margin of his wins.

Congressional districts will play a key role in the presidential primary.

Two thirds of the state's pledged delegates — a trove of 77 — will be distributed to either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton based on the percentage of votes in the state's 13 Congressional districts.

(Mike Gravel and "No Preference" will also be on the ballot, but they are unlikely to pass the 15 percent threshold necessary to affect delegate distribution.)

At Dome's request, Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling took a look at their surveys, using area code as a proxy for Congressional district. Here's where each candidate's ahead, and the district representative:

Clinton: 3rd (Jones), 5th (Foxx), 10th (McHenry), 11th (Shuler)

Obama: 1st (Butterfield), 4th (Price), 6th (Coble), 7th (McIntyre), 8th (Hayes), 9th (Myrick), 12th (Watt), 13th (Miller)

Toss-Up: 2nd (Etheridge)

"Obama does very well in urban areas and more rural areas down east with strong black populations," he writes Dome. "Clinton is strongest with the whiter 3rd District out east and in the western part of the state."

How will the Democratic delegates be divvied up?

Because it did not move its primary date, North Carolina has a much larger cache of delegates than similarly sized states, 134 in all.

Here's how they will be given out:

77: Based on the voting percentage in each of the 13 Congressional districts. The Fourth District has the most with nine; the Third District, the least with four.

38: Based on the voting percentage statewide.

17: Superdelegates who cast their vote however they want. Three have already committed to Barack Obama already, and one to Hillary Clinton.

2: Elected at the state convention on June 21. State party chairman Jerry Meek, who is neutral, will submit a list of four names. The would-be delegates may or may not publicly state who they will support before the convention vote.

After the jump, the number of delegates from each district.

   Comments (2)

If North Carolina is in play, it will be big game.

Though the state's presidential primary hasn't mattered since 1988, a number of factors could make the Democratic race highly competitive here if the race isn't decided by then:

1. The state is unaligned. Until recently, almost all of the state's major Democratic officials were backing John Edwards. Of them, only one—U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield—has since signed up for Barack Obama, and none for Hillary Clinton.

2. The state has bonus delegates. Because North Carolina did not rush to join the pack of early-voting states, the Democratic Party gave it extra delegates. The state's 134 delegates are worth more than Virginia, Indiana or Washington.

3. The state has good timing. After Texas and Ohio vote on March 4, the biggest stash of delegates will be Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22. Between then and May 6, only Guam will vote. That gives two weeks for Obama and Clinton to campaign here and in Indiana.

In addition, while North Carolina is a red state that hasn't gone for a Democrat for president since 1976, it has been inching towards being more of a swing state demographically. That could make it slightly more of a prize for either Clinton or Obama.

The conventional wisdom has long held that North Carolina's presidential primary won't count.

But will it? A loyal Dome reader did some back of the envelope calculations this morning that indicate the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama may not be over by the May 6 primary.

(The Republican race, however, looks like it will be settled by then.)

Look at the delegate counts from last night again. Currently, Clinton has 803 delegates and Obama has 742, according to the Washington Post. It takes 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination.

Between today and May 6, 16 states plus Guam and Washington, D.C., will hold primaries that will decide 1,297 delegates. But at this point, Clinton needs 1,222 to win and Obama needs 1,283.

That means unless Clinton or Obama takes a decisive lead and forces the other candidate to drop out, North Carolina's primary will still matter when it rolls around.

Update: NBC News calculates the delegate count is 847 for Obama, 834 for Clinton.