Election Day is approaching, and many of those competing in North Carolina’s down-ballot electoral contests are angling for publicity. The two candidates for the open job of N.C. attorney general recently debated in Asheboro. Carolina Journal Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson watched the debate and offers his analysis about competing plans for running the N.C. Department of Justice. Henderson also offers an update on the latest election polling data. As the campaign season heads into the home stretch, more people will be paying attention to candidates’ competing claims and policy proposals. John Locke Foundation Chairman John Hood offers an expert assessment of the issues and narratives that are likely to drive the closing weeks of North Carolina’s most hotly contested races. Hood also explains why the governor’s race could turn out to be the biggest prize on North Carolina’s election ballot, more important than the state’s 15 presidential electoral votes. Election Day itself is Nov. 8, but many North Carolinians will be casting ballots in October. The N.C. State Board of Elections recently set rules for early voting in counties across the state. Two-thirds of the state’s county election boards reached unanimous agreement in setting early-voting dates and sites, but the state board stepped in to resolve disputes about the early-voting rules in 33 N.C. counties. You’ll hear highlights from the state board’s discussions. Education tends to dominate discussion of the most important issues for state government. Yet North Carolina’s education system remains substantially the same as the one put in place 130 years ago. That’s the argument from Catherine Truitt, Gov. Pat McCrory’s senior education adviser. She explains that North Carolina has plenty of room for education innovation. That’s especially true in the realm of digital learning. A pipeline leak in Alabama helped lead to recent gasoline shortages in North Carolina, along with threats from Gov. Pat McCrory and Attorney General Roy Cooper about gas stations engaging in “price gouging.” Jon Sanders, John Locke Foundation director of regulatory studies, explains the link between North Carolina’s price-gouging law and the run on gasoline that emptied gas pumps in many locations across the state.