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Earlier this month, in the days after the Georgia presidential primary, Chuck Campbell drove five hours to Augusta to collect leftover Rick Santorum signs.

Campbell, a volunteer organizer for Santorum’s nascent North Carolina campaign, piled them in his car and brought them to Raleigh to give out to the GOP candidate’s N.C. supporters.

For him, the campaign was just getting started. As one of three statewide coordinators, Campbell is not an official part of Santorum’s presidential campaign. But he serves a key role in the former Pennsylvania senator’s insurgent effort against the leading Republican candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Read more here.

Mike Beitler is making two intriguing political leaps this year. For one, the former U.S. Senate candidate is now running for Secretary of State. And two, he switched his voter registration from the Libertarian Party back to the Republican Party.

In an interview Tuesday, Beitler talked about his reversal, the chances of a third party candidate in North Carolina, Ron Paul and his new campaign. (See video below.)

For more on the North Carolina money in the presidential race, take a look at this detailed Charlotte Observer breakdown. And this interactive map lets you search donation totals by zip code. 

If you missed it, Rob Christensen explores how Gov. Bev Perdue' decision to leave the race may have been affected by the boo-ing at the North Carolina basketball game last month. Read story here.

And Democrat Bob Etheridge gave his first speech of his nascent bid for governor. Read a Fayetteville Observer piece here.

And The Charlotte Observer profiles Mary Tribble, the even planner behind the Democratic National Convention.

In an informal survey by a N.C. tea party group, Newt Gingrich is the preferred Republican candidate for president.

The N.C. Tea Party conducted a "straw poll" by asking visitors to its website to submit a vote yesterday in conjunction with the Florida Republican presidential primary. Those who did favored Gingrich, followed closely by Rick Santorum, then Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, according to a Winston-Salem Journal report.

The survey appears far from scientific but organizers for the advocacy group told the newspaper that 500 people submitted responses. Read more about it here.

Republican Pat McCrory is generating some attention today but most of the national party eyes are focused on Florida where the GOP presidential primary contest meets its latest vote.

To get some local perspective on the race, we called Scott Laster, the executive director of the N.C. Republican Party. Laster worked for five years running legislative campaigns in the Sarasota area before working for Florida lawmakers and state agencies. Here's an edited version of our conservation earlier today:

Q: Florida enjoys the political spotlight. How are politics different in the Sunshine State compared to North Carolina? A: "The GOP in Florida took control of the legislature in the mid 90s and they've been solidifying their position since then, whereas in North Carolina its new to have Republican leadership. ... It's a purple state and i consider our state reddish-purple. Florida is more of a swing state."

A quick breakdown on the political stories in this morning's paper:

-- With three different candidates winning the first three GOP presidential primary contests, North Carolina's chances of influencing the Republican presidential primary increased slightly over the weekend. "It's pretty remote, but it's a possibility where two weeks ago I would have told you there was no possibility whatsoever," said Jack Hawke, a veteran party strategist and former state GOP chairman. Read more here.

-- WakeMed CEO Bill Atkinson finally found his audience Monday at a legislative committee charged with deciding whether the state should own Rex Hospital, WakeMed's cross-town rival. For more than a year, Atkinson has lodged the same litany of complaints against Rex and its owner, UNC Health Care. Read more from reporter Mandy Locke here.

-- In preparation for the Democratic National Convention, the Charlotte City Council voted Monday night to approve new ordinances that will give police more power to stop and search people during the convention. The vote was met with shouts of "Shame!" from a packed council chamber. The American Civil Liberties Union has said some of the measures go too far, including giving the police power to arrest people carrying backpacks, satchels or coolers if they believe the items are being used to carry weapons. Read more here from The Charlotte Observer.

--Conflicts between individual homeowners and the homeowners associations that govern many housing developments took center stage at a state legislative hearing Monday. Read more here.

Newt Gingrich's recent surge put him at the top of the GOP presidential popularity contest in North Carolina, a new Public Policy Polling survey shows.

Gingrich pulled 51 percent compared to other Republicans, including 14 percent for Mitt Romney, 8 percent for Michele Bachmann and 7 percent for Ron Paul.

In the polling memo, PPP pollster Tom Jensen notes that Gingrich was at 22 percent five weeks ago, gaining 29 percent in the interim. Read more below.