The race for North Carolina governor is now officially a three-person contest. The Libertarian Party of North Carolina formally presented its list of 41 candidates for the 2008 General Election to the State Board of Elections June 30.

Dr. Michael Munger tops the list as the LPNC gubernatorial candidate. Dr. Munger is joined by Phillip Rhodes, running for lieutenant governor and Mark McMains, running for commissioner of insurance.

Libertarians will also contest 25 seats in the General Assembly, 14 in previously unopposed contests. At the local level, five Libertarians are running for County Commission and one is running for Mecklenberg Register of Deeds.

Chris Cole is the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate. There are five Libertarian candidates for Congressional seats: Will Adkins, District 2; Maximillian Longley, District 4; Thomas Hill, District 8; Andy Grum, District 9, and; Keith Smith, District 11.

I would like to thank everyone who has visited my website at www.betsyforjudge.com and shared their stories. Here is just one:

Cheryl** is 37 years old. She is the mother of 3 children, ages 14, 7 and 14 months. Cheryl is employed full-time and lives in a 4-bedroom, 2 and 1/2 bath home on 60 acres. Orange County Child Protective Services (CPS) removed Cheryl's 3 children from her custody on January 15, 2008, alleging that her 7-year old son was locked out of the house one day and had to call his father from a neighbor's house. According to the juvenile petition filed by CPS, Cheryl is "jittery" and her behavior raises "suspicions" of a personality disorder or substance abuse. To date, Cheryl has taken 27 drug tests which have all been negative.

BETSY J. WOLFENDEN ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF CAMPAIGN WEBSITE

CHAPEL HILL – 5/24/08 – Betsy J. Wolfenden, candidate for 15-B District Court Judge, announces the launch of her campaign website: www.betsyforjudge.com

Betsyforjudge.com educates voters on the importance of electing impartial judges and on Wolfenden’s position on the issues, including the need for a specialized Family Court in District 15-B and protecting the public from lawyers who act unethically and unprofessionally.

Wolfenden also hopes to engage in an online dialogue with voters regarding their experiences—good and bad—in 15-B District Court, with the goal of improving court services to the citizens of Orange and Chatham Counties.

Cabarrus for Hillary
Real Solutions for America's Big Challenges

Join us for the 2nd local Cabarrus for Hillary supporters meeting, in Concord, NC.

Thursday - March 20 - 6:30 pm

Please contact ddjames@uncc.edu for detailed information.

We welcome all Hillary supporters.

You know....if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck......it's probably a____________

On the eve of the South Carolina primary, those of us near the state are busy canvassing, calling and doing everything we can to stay on top of the local news. Earlier today I pulled up every online newspaper I could find listed for the state and found that the local news was doing a better job than the national media at portraying the race for the Democratic presidential nomination as a three person race.

Hope my neighbors in the Palmetto State know what they're doing. Come on y'all. Vote Edwards.

Don't forget to vote. Huge turnout. Historically high turnout. Make your voice heard and make your vote count.

In all the mad rush surrounding this time of year bloggers at the 50 State community blogs are busy staying on top of local news. It's a bit shorter than last week, but should give you some good reading over the weekend.

A personal thank you to Karl for putting together a comprehensive roundup for us last week and for helping me pull together submissions for this week.

Here's your 50 State Blog Roundup for the week of December 21, 2007:

Illinois
   PSB poster bored now serves up an excellent updated analysis of the Dem candidate three-way for Denny Hastert's abandoned seat in IL-14. In IL-03: Lipinski wants to have his cake and eat it too