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Election Night revealed major victories for Republicans in North Carolina. Republicans won the presidential, congressional delegation, governor, lieutenant governor, N.C. Supreme Court races -- as well as took a supermajority in the state House and Senate. All together it represents a conservative shift in N.C. politics, writes Rob Christensen.

Here's a wrap on the coverage:

--President Barack Obama wins re-election. Democrats keep U.S. Senate, House remains GOP. The challenge awaiting Obama.

--Mitt Romney won North Carolina. N.C.'s congressional delegation turns deep red. Congressman Mike McIntyre holds narrow edge, recount next. U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers wins easy. Election photo gallery.

Two months ago, Pat McCrory's campaign pledged to release an ethics plan for the Republican's potential administration. But now it's obvious it won't happen.

Two more newspaper editorial board endorsements split their picks between Democrat Walter Dalton and Republican Pat McCrory.

The opinion shop at The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City endorsed Dalton. He will better stand up for rural parts of the state and serve as a veto threat to what is likely to be another Republican-controlled legislature," the newspaper's editorial board wrote.

Republican Pat McCrory continued his moderate transformation during Wednesday's debate, shedding his tea party and conservative cape as he said legislation restricting abortions and cracking down on illegal immigration won't appear on his agenda if elected. At the same time, Democrat Walter Dalton made a bold pledge to lower the employment rate as much as 3 percent in his first year. Pundits say the debate isn't the game changer Dalton needed. Read more here and see four fact checks from the debate.

More political headlines:

--In a new development that raises questions about Debra Goldman's judgment, another police report surfaced showing that the GOP state auditor candidate called 911 after a fellow board member yelled at her during a heated Wake school board meeting.

The two major-party candidates for governor both stress close connections between education and business but approach the question of improving education from different angles. Democrat Walter Dalton would extend already established paths, while Republican Pat McCrory’s education proposals have the potential to remake the state’s public education system from kindergarten through college.

Read about education in the governor's race, the third installment in a series, and see a graphic of how the plans stack up.

More political headlines:

--On Tuesday, it will be four weeks before the Nov. 6 elections – let the countdown begin. We have had our first debates, more ads than you can shake a stick at, and more than a few motorcades. Read Rob Christensen's tutorial on what to expect in the closing month.

On Wednesday, the first of three televised gubernatorial debates will be held between Democrat Walter Dalton and Republican Pat McCrory. This is a key moment in particular for Dalton, the lieutenant governor, who trails the former Charlotte mayor in all the polls. The one-hour debate will begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast across the state. Rob Christensen gives his 10 questions for the candidates.

More political headlines:

--North Carolina’s next governor could determine whether the broad changes that are remaking the state’s environmental landscape – both political and natural – continue or are reined in. But both candidates are mostly silent on the issue.

--Five weeks before Election Day, the best place to get a snapshot of the presidential race in North Carolina might well be up here in the mountain towns of Watauga County. Unlike the Republican-red counties surrounding it, Watauga has turned purple in its politics – just like North Carolina, still one of nine battleground states in the 2012 contest between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The Republican candidates for state superintendent are clearly delineated on one major issue: whether the post should be elected or appointed. John Tedesco, a Wake County school board member, says elected. His rival, Richard Alexander, a special education teacher, says appointed.

Tedesco bashed Alexander in a YouTube video, saying he is promoting the "Perdue-Alexander agenda." (The Gov. Bev Perdue reference recalls her effort to give greater powers to the chairman of the State Board of Education, essentially nullifying the elected superintendent -- a cause she lost in the courts.)

But in hitting his rival, Tedesco also strikes Republican gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory -- who believes the superintendent should be an appointed position.

North Carolina's governor's race consistently ranked as one of the most competitive in the nation for the past year. And despite Gov. Bev Perdue's departure, The Washington Post says it remains the one most likely to switch parties this election year.

"From the primary to the general election, it all translates to a contest that was and will continue to be the marquee governor’s race of November, perhaps even more so after Perdue’s exit," writes the Post's Aaron Blake. 

Read the full analysis at the newspaper's political blog here.