Compared to his IPad and IStation spending, this contract is minuscule:

A day after finishing a distant third in a bid to become the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, state schools Superintendent Mark Johnson took a jab at State Board of Education (SBE) colleagues over a contract he contends was improperly administered.

The contract in question Wednesday is between the SBE and Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). It amounts to more than $30,000 for a study of the state’s accountability system, including the controversial A-F letter grading used to rate North Carolina’s schools.

While this contract was $5,000 more than what is authorized for a no-bid, he's actually angry they are planning to limit his purchases to $500,000. That's a hundred times more than they spent over their limit, and I ain't using Common Core math to get that. Zero perspective, unchecked privilege. There is literally no place in NC government where it would be "safe" for Mark Johnson to occupy.

Except for NC's Congressional races, that is:

Political year 2020 gets underway in North Carolina today, as the filing period opens for candidates seeking most local, state and federal offices.

From noon today until noon Dec. 20, those wanting to appear on the ballot in 2020 can file with their local board of elections office or the state board in Raleigh, depending on which seat they are seeking. It’s this filing, rather than any announcements at party events or in the news media, that determines who shows up on next year’s ballot.

Now is the time for County Party officers (with help from Precinct folks) to focus on races that fall into their jurisdiction, with an eye towards making sure there is a viable candidate for each one. "Viable" might seem like a heavy-handed word, and it's as good a time as any to remind elected officers not to endorse in a Democratic Primary. But occasionally somebody will file who has neither the mental capacity nor the temperament and/or character to run a competitive campaign. That's what Primaries are for. There are well over 200 races in the upcoming Primary/General, including 170 General Assembly seats:

Last year Democrats broke the GOP's supermajority in both houses of the General Assembly, and Democrats also fielded candidates in all 170 contests. How much the latter contributed to the former might be a subject for debate, but we would be foolish to write it off as a coincidence. Having a full slate of candidates changed the dynamic, and it also served to provide every Democrat in the state with General Assembly candidates to vote for. It was a monumental task, to be sure, but we can do it again. Follow this link to a WRAL story of the new Legislative districts, where you will find interactive maps for both the House and the Senate. p.s. I would recommend an "outside in" approach to candidate recruitment, putting effort into finding good candidates in the hard-to-find, mostly rural districts first.