By ANDREW WILKINS

NC House Speaker Thom Tillis (R, NC House District 98)

Updated 12:10pm Friday
State Rep. Thom Tillis (R-Cornelius), the Speaker of the NC House and Representative for the 98th District which includes Davidson and Cornelius, on Thursday announced he’s running for the U.S. Senate. Tillis first will face Greg Bannon in the GOP primary, as both vie for the chance to unseat incumbent Democratic Senator Kay Hagan in the 2014 midterm elections.

Tillis made the announcement in part with statements on his Twitter feed and on his Facebook page:

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Sam Spencer

The Democratic National Convention in Charlotte Sept. 3-6 will attract a diverse army of delegates from around the country, including a higher-than-usual number of young people. Among them is 27-year-old Sam Spencer of Davidson, who also is president of the Young Democrats of North Carolina.

North Carolina will send 158 delegates to the convention, people elected by fellow Democrats to represent their districts as the party nominates Barack Obama to run for a second term. About one-fifth the delegates, 32, are young people, a group he says will pay an important role in the presidential election this year. Read the full story

Six out of 10 people in North Carolina would oppose an amendment to the state constitution that prevents any same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships or civil unions, the latest Elon University Poll shows. Thirty-two percent of state residents would support an amendment, according to the poll. Read the full story

Local Unitarian Universalists organized a rally on the Davidson Village Green Saturday, March 24, against Amendment One, which would revise the N.C. Constitution to prohibit gay marriage. We spoke to rally organizers and participants.

RELATED STORY: March 24, 2012, DavidsonNews.net, “Rally speakers say Amendment One would treat gays, lesbians unfairly.”

Can’t see the video? Watch directly on YouTube, http://youtu.be/Nm4hlhBYqWs

Updated March 2, 2012, 2 p.m.

Don Copeland, one of three new candidates to file for the 41st state Senate district seat.

Five Republican candidates are vying for the District 41 state Senate seat, which represents Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews Mint Hill and parts of Southeast Charlotte. In the final two days of filing this week, Donald Copeland, Troy Stafford and Robby Benton joined Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte and Huntersville business owner John Aneralla in the race. Read the full story