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Confusion created by the newly drawn legislative and congressional maps caused some voters in the May primary to be assigned to the wrong districts and others given the wrong ballots, attorneys representing advocacy groups and registered Democrats say. Read full story here.

More political news:

--Republican legislators at a committee meeting Friday said the state could not afford to contribute to a planned $650 million toll bridge from mainland Currituck County to the northern Outer Banks.

--Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton said Friday that, as governor, he would push to raise N.C. teacher salaries to the national average, better line up school offerings with job skills, and use the bully pulpit to try to get the Republican-controlled legislature to begin restoring many of its previous cuts in education funding.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidates sharpened their criticisms Tuesday night, drawing more pointed contrasts with each other’s records in the second in a series of televised debates. 

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge heard his congressional record on trade and his tenure as superintendent of public instruction come under fire. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton found himself defending his attendance record and his advocacy of Democratic causes in the legislature. Read the story here. And get the pundits' take on the debate.

Other headlines:

-- The calls for Democratic Party chairman David Parker to resign snowballed Tuesday, leaving his tenure short on days. Gov. Bev Perdue, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and former Congressman Bob Etheridge all reversed course to call for his ouster after trying to avoid the controversy for days.

The Charlotte Observer is calling it the "April Surprise" and the paper's cartoonist gets in his take on the candidates' reactions to scandal.

Kathleen Sebelius, President Barack Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services, is walking back what appeared to be an endorsement of Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton for N.C. governor during a speech last Saturday night in Charlotte.

And because her remarks at the Human Rights Campaign gala was filled with political comments, the federal government will not pay for Sebelius’ trip to Charlotte, an HHS spokesman said in response to questions from the Observer.

On Saturday, Sebelius started her speech to about 1,400 people at the gay-rights fundraiser in the Charlotte Convention Center by acknowledging state and local politicians in attendance, including U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx.

She also mentioned Democrat Dalton, saying “Your lieutenant governor, Walter Dalton, who needs to be the next governor of North Carolina, is in the house.”

Because Dalton has five Democratic primary opponents – including former U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge and state Rep. Bill Faison – Sebelius’ comments made some political observers wonder whether the Obama administration was signaling that it has a favorite in the race.

On Saturday night, during a visit to Charlotte, top Obama administration official Kathleen Sebelius began her speech at the Human Rights Campaign gala with an apparent endorsement of Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, one of at least five Democrats running for the party’s nomination.

It came amid her mentions of state and local politicians in the audience. “Your lieutenant governor, Walter Dalton, who needs to be the next governor of North Carolina, is in the house,” Sebelius told the crowd of almost 1,400 attending the fundraiser at the Charlotte Convention Center.

The U.S. Health and Human Services secretary made no mention of state Rep. Bill Faison, who has filed to run in the Democratic primary, or former U.S. Rep Bob Etheridge, who has said he’s also running. Two other lesser-known candidates -- Gary Dunn of Matthews and Gardenia Henley of Winston-Salem -- have also filed to run.

The Obama campaign held a youth summit Tuesday evening at N.C. Central University. In a state teeming with college campuses - a state that Obama carried by a slim 14,000-vote margin in 2008 - the college vote could make the difference. Get the full report here.

Speaking of Obama, for the second time in a week the president's religious beliefs have been called into question. N.C. evangelist Franklin Graham is the latest to revive the issue ahead of the 2012 campaign. Read more here.