North Carolina could prove to be a key player in determining the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican opponent Donald Trump both seem to sense the Tar Heel State’s importance. They’ve made multiple appearances here since securing their respective parties’ nominations. They’ve also sent their vice presidential running mates to rally in North Carolina. Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson offers an update on the campaign to win this presidential “battleground” state. North Carolina’s certificate-of-need law was designed to help control health care costs by giving state government oversight of new medical facilities and large-scale equipment. The reality has been far different from the original projections. Chris Koopman, research fellow with the Project for the Study of American Capitalism at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, spells out key problems associated with CON laws nationwide. He also compares North Carolina’s CON restrictions to others across the country. The N.C. Supreme Court delivered a victory for property rights when it struck down the N.C. Department of Transportation’s use of the Map Act in Forsyth County. The Map Act had allowed DOT to block development of property within a proposed road corridor for decades without ever having to pay affected property owners. Now state lawmakers are trying to figure out how they will proceed with future road-building projects. They recently debated the issue. Seven of the University of North Carolina system’s chancellors will see pay hikes beyond the general statewide state employee pay raises included in the latest N.C. budget. Included are raises of as much as $56,000. None of the raises is based on a chancellor’s performance. Kari Travis, Carolina Journal associate editor, discusses the rationale for the latest raises and plans for incorporating performance pay in future evaluations of campus CEOs. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is seeking a waiver from the federal government to proceed with Medicaid reform. Katherine Restrepo, John Locke Foundation health and human services policy analyst, discusses the waiver process. She explains why North Carolina would benefit from improvements to its Medicaid program.