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Andrew Young, the ex-aide to John Edwards, and his wife will not be prosecuted for criminal contempt for their actions in a civil case brought against them by Edwards' former mistress, the district attorney for Orange and Chatham counties announced Monday.

In June, Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan asked District Attorney Jim Woodall to review whether Young, his wife, Cheri Young, and their two lawyers violated an order sealing evidence in the civil case. The violation allegedly occurred when the Youngs turned over sealed documents in the civil case to federal agents who were investigating Edwards’ campaign finances.

The civil case was brought in 2010 by Edwards' former mistress Rielle Hunter over ownership of a video tape that purportedly showed Edwards and Hunter having sex. The Youngs said they found the tape in a box after Hunter moved out following a stay at their home near Chapel Hill. The case was settled in February with an agreement that the tape and any copies would be destroyed.

Rielle Hunter’s newly released tell-all memoir and former aide Andrew Young’s 2010 inside account aren’t the only John Edwards-inspired books on the market. In August, an ex-staffer’s novel will be published.

Bridget Siegel, who was a young finance director for the 2004 John Kerry presidential campaign with VP nominee Edwards, has written “Domestic Affairs.” According to the publisher, Weinstein Books, the novel is “full of all the scandal and back-room dealings that go into raising money for a presidential campaign.

“It also features an affair with a very married Southern candidate.”

The early take from Day 10 in the John Edwards trial: The interior decorator who acted as the conduit for philanthropist Rachel "Bunny" Mellon to funnel $750,000 to Andrew Young, a political aide for John Edwards, said Friday that he also passed along notes from Young to an FBI agent investigating John Edwards.

Bryan Huffman said Friday morning that he forwarded to the FBI emails from Young soliciting questions that he could ask the former Democratic presidential candidate as part of a civil lawsuit filed in state court. Read the full story here.

The campaigns for and against the marriage amendment are taking center stage just days before the primary. The efforts are fueled by big national money. The debate is playing out in community forums, Facebook and websites far outside the traditional media. And even hair stylists are being enlisted to fight the referendum.

In Charlotte, a top Republican lawmaker said the amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions is "for the greater good." Rev. Billy Graham issued a statement favoring the ban. The wife of another GOP lawmaker is denying that she said the amendment is important to protecting the white race, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. 

In other political headlines:

--Elizabeth Edwards emerged as a central figure in Day 8 of the John Edwards trial, forcing daughter Cate Edwards to leave in tears at one point. The world is watching the trial. John Edwards was called "political roadkill" on Al Jazeera recently. And columnist Barry Saunders says the testimony of Andrew and Cheri Young makes them look as bad as Edwards.

House Speaker Thom Tillis said he heard rumors about an affair his former chief of staff had with a state lobbyist but Charles Thomas denied the relationship. Tillis, who bunks with Thomas in Raleigh, answered questions about the after Thomas' resignation last week for an affair with a homebuilders association lobbyist. Tillis also acknowledged a second staffer, Amy Hobbs, had a romantic relationship with a different lobbyist, Dean Plunkett, and would resign. Read the full story here.

Lots more political news:

-- A Charlotte area man is being questioned for firing a shotgun at an anti-amendment sign, which he recorded in a YouTube video that received widespread attention a week before the May 8 primary on the marriage referendum.

--Jurors at the John Edwards trial saw video on Tuesday afternoon of the house outside Chapel Hill where Edwards’ pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, lived for several months while hiding from National Enquirer reporters. Cheri Young, the wife of Edwards’ political aide Andrew Young, made the video in September 2008 while going through the two-story house in the Governors Club, a gated community near Chapel Hill. Day 7 Trial coverage here.

It was only a year-and-a-half ago that Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers was the long-shot candidate who rode into Washington on a wave of public discontent. The former nurse from Dunn’s message was that beltway politicians are out of touch with everyday Americans. Now, in her first re-election bid, five challengers want to kick her out of Washington. Three are Republicans. Read the full story here.

More politics: 

--A week before the May 8 primary, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton opens a big lead in the polls and money race. Get the state of the race here.

--The four Republicans competing for the secretary of state job -- Mike Beitler, A.J. Daoud, Kenn Gardner and Ed Goodwin -- want to stretch the agency’s bounds beyond handling corporate records and use it to serve as a business ambassador to lure more companies to North Carolina.

The wife of John Edwards’ former aide Andrew Young testified Monday that Edwards knew of the checks coming from his wealthy supporters and gave assurances that it would not violate campaign funding laws for her to deposit the money in the personal account she shared with her husband.

Cheri Young, testifying at the start of the second week of the Edwards trial, said she listened in on a phone call between the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate and her husband after she raised questions about funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars through the Youngs’ private bank account. More from Day 6 testimony here.

The State Board of Elections on Friday wrapped up an investigation into Pat McCrory’s 2008 gubernatorial campaign by referring five campaign donors for possible prosecution, including four members of a Charlotte family.

Elections official Kim Strach told the board that Kenneth Gill, president of CPI Security, may have reimbursed three members of his family and an employee for donations to McCrory’s campaign. Giving in the name of another, or so-called “straw donors,” is illegal under North Carolina law. The case was referred to Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray. Read more here.

With the primary days away, many other political stories are in the headlines:

--The first week of early voting set a record -- surpassing even the heated 2008 Democratic primary election. Read more about the numbers here.

--Five GOP candidates are vying for the state superintendent nomination. Here's a primer on the race.

--The Republican race for lieutenant governor is all about big ideas outside the bounds of the office's muted power -- and a desire for a partisan takeover of the state's top two posts.

A defense lawyer described it simply as a “private video.”

But on the fifth day of testimony Friday, about an hour and a half into the continued cross examination of Andrew Young, the prosecutor’s lead witness in their criminal case against John Edwards, the purported sex tape between Edwards and Rielle Hunter was mentioned. Read the early trial story from Day 5 here.

Gov. Bev Perdue is hosting a policy meeting assembled by the nation's Democratic governors that's also expected to raise big money for their party's candidates this November.

The Democratic Governors Association starts a two-day regional policy conference on education, technology and health care on Thursday in Charlotte, AP reports. The two-day event also is expected to bring in $2 million for the group. The association can receive unlimited contributions from corporations and other groups.

In other political headlines:

--It’s a busy election year with lots of primary races, and in some places, lots of candidates. Some voters have so many choices that their ballots have races on both front and back.