GOVERNOR COOPER WILL NOT ENDORSE IN PRIMARY: North Carolina’s governor has decided not to endorse anyone in the Democratic presidential primary. Gov. Roy Cooper already voted — on Saturday during early voting for the state primary on March 3, which is also Super Tuesday. “The Governor hasn’t endorsed in past primaries and won’t be endorsing this year either,” his campaign said in a statement. “He encourages all voters to be sure they get to the polls and make their voices heard.” The North Carolina Democratic Party doesn’t endorse in primaries, either, according to the state party spokesperson Robert Howard. “We like our voters to decide who our nominee is, rather than put any thumb on the scale or anything,” Howard told The News & Observer in a phone interview Tuesday. He said the party has not discussed potential endorsements with any of its elected officials or candidates.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article240626002.html

DEM PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES HEADING TO NC BEFORE SUPER TUESDAY: Sanders will take part in a 7 p.m. interfaith Ash Wednesday service and forum at Greenleaf Christian Church. Doors for the event will open at 6 p.m. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar will make her first campaign stop in North Carolina on Thursday to hold a town hall-style meeting in Cary that will be televised on Fox News. Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg bookends rallies he held across the state on the first day of early voting with a stop in Charlotte on Feb. 29, the last day of early voting in North Carolina. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., returns to the state for a get-out-the-vote rally in Raleigh on March 1, two days before the Super Tuesday primary. Not to be outdone, President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Charlotte on March 2, the eve of the primary.
https://www.wral.com/super-tuesday-primary-bringing-presidential-candidates-to-nc/18969087/

SUPERMAJORITY OF VOTERS SUPPORT COOPER'S BUDGET VETO AND MEDICAID EXPANSION: Almost three-quarters of those polled said they would prefer school funding be increased rather than taxes cut, and a majority called for expanding Medicaid coverage to more of the state's working poor, according to the exclusive poll by SurveyUSA. SurveyUSA polled 2760 adults statewide between Feb. 13 and Sunday in the scientific survey, producing a credibility interval in the results of plus or minus 2.1 to 2.6 percent. Given a choice between providing more money for public schools or cutting business taxes to boost the economy, 71 percent of respondents said school funding was more important. Fewer than one-fifth said tax cuts should be the budget priority, while 9 percent said they weren't sure. Support for Cooper's stance cut across all demographics in the poll. Even more than three in five of Republicans questioned and a majority of those who identify themselves as conservative ranked funding schools ahead of cutting taxes in the budget debate.
https://www.wral.com/wral-news-poll-nc-residents-back-cooper-s-positions-in-state-budget-debate/1896...

CAUSEY WORE A WIRE WHILE LINDBERG TRIED TO BRIBE HIM: Recordings played for the jury on Wednesday showed that Lindberg was clearly unhappy with Jackie Obusek, the deputy insurance commissioner responsible for overseeing his companies. They contended Obusek didn’t like Lindberg and was unfairly tarnishing his reputation. In those conversations, Lindberg and Gray urged Causey to remove Obusek from overseeing Lindberg’s companies and replace her with a new regulator — Palermo, who at the time was working for Lindberg. In a March 2018 meeting that Causey recorded for the FBI, he and Lindberg talked about how the insurance department could hire Palermo. Lindberg also told the commissioner at that meeting that his people could set up an independent expenditure committee to support his reelection campaign and “put in a million or two or whatever.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article240424146.html

PRO-TRUMP FAKE NEWS SITE COULD BE NC STATE STUDENTS: On Monday, administrators of the group told McClatchy News they are students at N.C. State University in Raleigh who are conducting a “social media project to see how fast news will spread.” They did not provide their names. “Truth is not the goal,” administrators said in a private Facebook message. “Getting Trump re-elected is the ultimate goal.” A spokesperson from N.C. State told McClatchy News they had no knowledge of “any type of ‘social media project’” the page administrator cited. Winston-Salem police said incorrect stories have been shared on social media about its officers doing good deeds. The department didn’t name North Carolina Breaking News, but the Facebook page has shared stories about the Triad city. North Carolina Breaking News has also shared false reports about unconfirmed cases of coronavirus in North Carolina, a woman in Wilmington who gave birth to 18 babies in a single pregnancy and conspiracy theories involving a 6-year-old killed in South Carolina. It has encouraged its followers to vote a straight Republican ticket to “help prevent Coronavirus.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article240366106.html