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THE MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL STORY IN N.C.: The legal fight about the new political boundaries drawn by Republicans in the redistricting process is headed to court this week. A three-judge panelwill hear the arguments Monday and Tuesday after Democrats and groups fighting the maps filed suit contending they were unlawful. The new boundaries seal Republican power in the state legislature for the next decade and Democrats need a judicial reversal to regain strength.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The House will focus on education this week, with local school superintendents from across the state invited to meet with lawmakers. House Speaker Thom Tillis will hold a 3 p.m. press conference to discuss "education week." The House and Senate convene Monday evening for skeleton sessions. No votes are expected.

***Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. Find more political news and a weekend headline wrap below. And find out more information about the N&O's new iPad app, available for download now. (Programming note: Dome is not available on the app at the moment. Look for an upgrade later.)***

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan ranks in the ideological middle, according to the latest rankings from the National Journal. The Democrat, who faces re-election in 2014, ranks the 48th most liberal of the 100 senators, or 52 most conservative, depending on how you look at it.

Her Republican counterpart U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is the 23rd most conservative member in the chamber, the nonpartisan national political magazine found. National Journal ranked the lawmakers on 116 votes that showed differences in ideological viewpoint in the 112th Congress.

Among Democrats in the House, Congressman David Price is the most liberal at No. 32, followed by Mel Watt (45), former U.S. Rep. Brad Miller (83), G.K. Butterfield (121). On the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick was the 32nd most conservative, followed by Reps. Renee Ellmers (43), Virginia Foxx (55), Patrick McHenry (62), Howard Coble (153) and Walter Jones (242).

GOP FLIRTS WITH CHARLOTTE: Could Charlotte do for Republicans in 2016 what it did for Democrats in 2012? The Republican National Committee’s meeting in Charlotte this week has fueled speculation that the GOP might return for its national convention in four years. “It’s always a possibility,” GOP Chairman Reince Priebus said Wednesday at the Westin hotel. “North Carolina was good to us. And it’s a red state – all the more reason to look at Charlotte.”

AFP TOUTS GOP REIGN IN NORTH CAROLINA: Tim Phillis, the national president of Americans for Prosperity, writes in a Politico op-ed that North Carolina is a state where the GOP plans to make a difference. It starts: "In Raleigh, N.C., on Jan. 11, a new free-market Republican governor celebrated his gubernatorial win at the inaugural balls. The occasion was historic for North Carolina: the first time since Reconstruction that a conservative GOP governor will be joined by free-market GOP state legislative majorities in both state legislative chambers." Read full piece here.

***This is the Dome Morning Memo a digest of important N.C. political news. Click below for more.***

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan is featured in an ABC News broadcast airing Thursday evening about the record number of female senators that take office today. The Democrat joined 19 of the 20 women for an interview with Diane Sawyer.

Hagan gets far less airtime than some of her colleagues, according to a transcript, but at one point expressed hope there will be a woman nominee for president in 2016.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan said Wednesday negotiators from both parties need to get to work in Washington to reach a budget settlement that includes revenue increases and spending cuts.

The alternative -- the automatic spending cuts and tax increases known as sequestration -- would be "extremely damaging to North Carolina," Hagan said on a conference call with reporters.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has resubmitted legislation aiming to give health care to Marine veterans and their family members who suffered from historic water contamination at Marines Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Burr’s bill, the “Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act,” would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide health care to both veterans and their family members for illnesses associated with exposure to the poisoned drinking water. It is his first bill in the 112th Congress. Burr also submitted the bill in the last Congress.

North Carolina voters feel that President Barack Obama is off to a good start, according to the results of a poll released this week by the Civitas Insititute.

Civitas surveyed 600 registered voters from Feb. 16-19. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

65 percent of those surveyed said they strongly approve (36 percent) or somewhat approve (29 percent) of the job Obama is doing as president. Only 16 percent strongly disapprove (11 percent) or somewhat disapprove (5 percent).

That's a bump for Obama since the Civitas poll in January, which found that 60 percent strongly approved or somewhat approved of the job he was doing.

North Carolina residents are not feeling as favorable toward new U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, or the rest of Congress.

The survey found that 41 percent strongly approve (12 percent) or somewhat approve (29 percent) of the job Hagan is doing, while 16 percent disapprove.

Only 40 percent strongly approve (10 percent) or somewhat approve (30 percent) the job Congress is doing, while 46 percent disapprove.