“Outgoing North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who lost his bid for governor this month, said he is still deciding what his next step will be,” WRAL reports.

“But the Republican said another run for office — including the U.S. Senate in 2026 — is unlikely.”

Said Robinson: “That is not on my radar at all. Running for office is not on my radar at all. Certainly not.”

NOTUS: “More than any other Senate Republican, the North Carolina lawmaker is stuck between the demands of a restive MAGA base and an expected reelection campaign in 2026 in which Democrats consider him a top electoral target.”

“Vote against a cadre of Trump’s most controversial picks — including Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Health and Human Services Department and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence — and Tillis risks a serious primary challenge; support all of them, and he could be vulnerable to a political backlash that gives Democrats a chance to win his seat.”

While appearing alongside North Carolina Senate candidate Ted Budd on Fox News, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tried to portray donations to Cheri Beasley, Budd’s Democratic opponent, as suspicious.

Said Graham: “She raised $13 million in the last quarter. Ted raised four. From October 1 to October 19, the last reporting period, she raised 5. Ted raised one-and-a-half. I don’t know where all this money comes from, Sean.”

He added: “I just don’t believe this is legit—on the up and up.”

A new Marist poll finds Ted Budd (R) leading Cheri Beasley (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 45%.

“Senate Democrats are prioritizing a half-dozen states over North Carolina. The state’s House Democrats are openly fretting that the party could come to regret it,” Politico reports.

“As the midterms enter their final stretch, Democratic officials are feeling bullish about Cheri Beasley’s odds of winning, noting that recent public polls have the former chief justice for the North Carolina Supreme Court tied or within striking distance of her Republican opponent Rep. Ted Budd. Democratic lawmakers add that she’s outraised him by a substantial margin and see the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe as a motivating factor, especially among suburban women.”

“But Beasley needs more resources, they say, bringing up a perennial crux for the party: whether to spend their finite war chests in races deemed toss-ups, or to take a chance on those like the one in the Tar Heel State that favor Republicans.”

A new WRAL poll in North Carolina finds Ted Budd (R) just ahead of Cheri Beasley (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 43% to 42%.

The survey is the third public opinion poll released over the past week showing Beasley and Budd within a single percentage point of one another.

Politico: “Even as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are seen as the best pickup targets for Senate Democrats this cycle, the party is not taking North Carolina off the board.”

“We got a glimpse of a new ad from a group associated with the Democratic-led Senate Majority PAC, a $750,000 buy that follows roughly $2 million in previous spending.”

A new Trafalgar Group poll in North Carolina finds Ted Budd (R), who was endorsed by Donald Trump, leading the GOP Senate primary field with 51%, followed by Pat McCrory (R) at 29% and Mark Walker (R) at 8%.

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) won’t debate Pat McCrory (R) in the North Carolina Republican U.S. Senate race, WRAL reports.

North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Mark Walker (R) announced on Twitter that he’d been approached to drop out of the race, appear at Trump’s Saturday rally in the state and endorse Rep. Ted Budd (R) in return for onstage praise.

Said Walker: “I didn’t play this game in DC and I won’t do it now.”

A new WRAL News poll in North Carolina finds Rep. Ted Budd (R) leading the GOP Senate race with 33% support, followed by Pat McCrory (R) with 23% and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker (R) with 7%.

Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) said last year that not receiving an offer to teach at Duke University upon leaving the governorship was “blacklisting” and comparable to the refusal to serve Black Americans at lunch counters in the 1960s during segregation, CNN reports.

Jeff Jackson (D) is walking away from the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.

“The 39-year-old state senator from Charlotte is the second candidate in recent weeks to make that decision, which leaves former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley as the biggest-name candidate for the Democratic nomination.”

Former Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) will remain in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race for the remainder of the year and spend the next few weeks mulling a run for a House seat, despite former President Donald Trump urging him to bow out of the 2022 Senate contest, the AP reports.

“President Donald Trump endorsed Ted Budd three months ago in North Carolina’s 2022 U.S. Senate race,” the Charlotte Observer reports.

“Now one of Budd’s biggest political backers is spending $3 million to make sure Republicans in the state are aware of Trump’s endorsement.”

The Hill: North Carolina primary is a key test of Trump’s sway.

“As Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) launched his campaign for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat earlier this year, the North Carolina Republican pitched himself as a staunch ally of farmers,” the Washington Post reports.

“But as Budd has told his narrative in a state where agriculture is the largest business, he omitted a key chapter. He made no mention of his role in his family’s calamitous involvement in a company called AgriBioTech, which ended in a bankruptcy case that cost farmers millions of dollars in losses.”

“A trustee for farmers and other creditors alleged that his father, Richard Budd, improperly transferred millions of dollars in assets to his family, including Ted Budd. That occurred before Richard Budd and a family company faced a $15 million judgment in the case. Moreover, the trustee alleged, Ted Budd ‘acted in concert’ with his father ‘in connection with the fraudulent transfers.’”