RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's campaign season is officially open as election boards have started taking names to put on the ballot this year.
The State Board of Elections and boards in all 100 counties opened the candidate filing season at noon Monday.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Larry Kissell and Bob Etheridge and Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Beitler (BITE-ler) were among the candidates to sign their paperwork within the first hour at the state board. Several judicial candidates and district attorney hopefuls also arrived.
Candidates for the 170 seats in the General Assembly and local races filed in their home counties.
The filing period continues until noon Feb. 26. The primary is May 4 and the general election Nov. 2.
