Jesse Helms' granddaughter will join a board at the college that holds his papers.

Wake County District Court Judge Jennifer J. Knox will join the board of visitors at Wingate University in Union County.

The university is home to the Jesse Helms Center, a nonpartisan foundation that promotes the free enterprise system and American values.

Knox graduated from Wingate in 1996 with a major in history and was a member of the women's basketball team. She later went to UNC-Chapel Hill for law school.

The 67-member board is made up of successful alumni and others who are "committed to the growth and development of the University."

North Carolina's campaign season opened at noon with the national debate over the war in Iraq echoing in Tar Heel congressional races.

Two Republican congressional candidates, Joe McLaughlin of Jacksonville and Will Breazeale of Elizabethtown, filed for election against incumbents who they say should be turned out of office for not being sufficiently supportive of the U.S. military effort in Iraq, Rob Christensen reports.

Dozens of candidates lined up in the State Board of Elections for the filling period that opened at noon. They included Democratic Congressman Bob Etheridge, Republican Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, and Beth Wood, a former CPA in the state auditor's office, who wants to run against her hold boss Les Merritt.

Ronnie Anlsey, a Raleigh attorney, filed as a Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner.

More after the jump.

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