North Carolina could be facing a delayed primary season, which could benefit likely Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory.
North Carolina's primary runoff is now scheduled for June 26th if no candidate receives 40 percent of the vote during the May 8th primary.
But there is a good chance the runoff could be delayed until July 17th. That is because of new federal and state laws that require a 45-day period before an election for military to mail in their ballots if a run off is needed for any congressional race.
If any congressional race needs a runoff, then all primary runoffs will be moved to July 17th according to Johnnie McLean, deputy director of the state Board of Elections.
There are likely to be a lot crowded congressional primaries, so a delayed runoff seems likely.
In the governor's race, a longer Democratic primary season could work to the benefit of McCrory, because it would mean the Democratic candidates will spend almost an additional month running against each other rather than preparing for the fall campaign.
