This year’s election has already set early voter turnout records in North Carolina by a 40% increase over the previous records. However, most of the interest in the election is a result of the Presidential race. North Carolina has voted Republican in 9 of the last 10 Presidential elections, but it may be leaning towards electing Democratic candidate Barack Obama this year. For voters in North Carolina, the down ticket races are at least as interesting if not more so than the Presidential race.

First, there’s an incredibly competitive race for the Senate. Incumbent Elizabeth Dole was once thought to be a invulnerable in her reelection campaign, but challenger Kay Hagan may actually win the seat. The race becomes even more important because the Democrats may be able to obtain a filibuster-proof majority of 60 senate seats if Hagan wins.

Second, there’s another incredibly close race for governor, which is truly amazing considering that 27 of the last 30 governors of North Carolina have been Democrats. (Yes, North Carolina historically favors Democrats as Governors and Republicans as Presidents.) The string of Democrat governors dates all the way back to reconstruction after the civil war. Popular Charlotte Mayor Pat McCroy is the Republican nominee trying to overcome this history, while current Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue is trying to become the first female governor of North Carolina. There’s also a Libertarian candidate for Governor that is doing well for a third party candidate: Michael Munger, who is currently the head of the political science, economics, and public policy departments at Duke University.

If you live in North Carolina and are at all interested in the Governor’s race, then I would urge you to watch the hour-long debate on YouTube by all three candidates. (There are six parts to the debate: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.) At the very least, you should check out this summary of the debate.

There are many other important down ticket races. Usually, these down ticket races don’t even register in the minds of voters, but if all politics is local, then why are so many of these important races unkown? I urge you, wherever you live, to go online and at least find the names of all the people who will appear on your ballot in November. Take the time to Google them. You might find it more interesting than you thought, and either way some of these people will have the power to control a part of your life.

[Update: The New York Times has a brief editorial on a strange quirk in the North Carolina ballot. Even though North Carolina voters can vote using a single straight-ticket option, they still have to separately vote for President. This has resulted in unusually high numbers of North Carolina voters who simply do not have a recorded vote for President.  If you are curious what a North Carolina ballot looks like, you can find one on the State Board of Elections website. For more information on North Carolina voting, take a look at the 2008 Voter's Guide.]

[Update 2: Zach has an excellent post about the lack of attention paid to down ticket races over at In the Agora.]