One of the most passionately fought campaigns of this year’s primary season is the slugfest between former federal prosecutor George Holding and Wake County Commissioner Paul Coble, who are vying for a seat in Congress.
The race has produced North Carolina's first super PAC. It ranks No. 9 as the most active super PAC playing in a congressional race in the nation. And like other super PACs in this new world, how The American Foundations Committee is permitted to operate is somewhat controversial and sometimes unclear. Click here to read more, see a list of donors and get a primer on super PAC rules.
To get your political fill, here are more big headlines from this weekend:
--Newt Gingrich tries to keep GOP race alive. In stumping across the state, Gingrich mainly ignored Romney, but stepped up his criticism of Obama, describing him as "a Chicago-machine politician dedicated to Saul Alinsky’s radicalism." Here's a dispatch from his statewide tour, including stops at a tea party rally in Greensboro and Raleigh. He also visited the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.
--In his column, Rob Christensen takes a look at the status of the presidential campaign in North Carolina and compares it to election cycles where the state's voters made a difference. His conclusion for this year's GOP primary: "history is apparently not destined to repeat itself this year."
--The protests designed for the Democratic convention is beginning to take shape with Charlotte being labeled "the Wall Street of the South." Read more about their plans for a massive march here. In other convention news, party officials said it will have more delegates than any other nominating convention in history. Read more tidbits and scuttlebutt about the DNC here.
--An AP report describes the heightening efforts behind the May 8 vote on a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and civil unions. But The Charlotte Observer's editorial board says the anti-amendment efforts aren't enough to make a difference.
--A Cumberland County judge is scheduled to announce his ruling Friday in the case of the first death row inmate to test the Racial Justice Act. Whatever he rules, his decision will be historic.
--The John Edwards trial resumes with jury selection next week. Get a preview of the long and varied witness list.
