“3 things happening in NC” is Cardinal & Pine’s weekly guide to the people, storylines, and events driving the news this week in North Carolina. Here’s what you’ll find this week:
- The NC municipalities offering free transportation to Election Day polling places
- College basketball season officially tips off in North Carolina
- Unpacking the Cherokee experience during the American Revolution
Tuesday is Election Day. It’s the culmination of all those ads, spam texts, canvassing calls, and mail flyers that have overwhelmed us in recent months.
The 2026 midterms will be extremely impactful in swaying how aggressively Donald Trump will be able to serve his final two years in office, with North Carolina’s US Senate race serving as one of the Democrats’ best chances at gaining ground.
If you missed out on early voting, Tuesday presents your final chance to have your voice heard. Remember that, unlike early voting, you’ll need to go to your assigned voting location on Election Day. Find your location by searching for yourself here.
Visit the NC State Board of Elections website to find your site, and make sure you’re there on Tuesday.
The NC municipalities offering free transportation to Election Day polling places
Tuesday marks Election Day in North Carolina and around the country for the 2026 midterms, though millions have already voted. According to stats published Saturday by the NC State Board of Elections, just over a third of registered voters in North Carolina have already cast a ballot in the midterms, totaling more than 2.6 million voters.
Broken down by party, more than 38% of those ballots have been cast by registered Democrats, 35% unaffiliated, and 26% Republicans.
Certain municipalities across the state are doing what they can to ensure that the remaining two-thirds of registered voters make it to the polls on Tuesday.
In Charlotte, the local Charlotte Area Transit System will provide complimentary service on all CATS routes to and from designated polling places. Similar programming is being offered in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Alamance County, as reported by WXII.
Orange County Public Transit is also offering fare-free fixed-route service to three early voting locations.
In cities where Lime operates (Raleigh, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem), riders can use the code VOTE26 to receive two free 30-minute rides through Tuesday.
College basketball season officially tips off in North Carolina
The end of election season brings in the beginning of basketball season in North Carolina, as the state’s two most storied college programs will kick off their seasons this week.
In Chapel Hill, Monday night’s game against Western Carolina University marks the beginning of a new era at University of North Carolina as new head coach Michael Malone takes the helm. Malone, a veteran of 12 seasons as an NBA head coach, is the winningest coach in Denver Nuggets’ history and led the team to an NBA championship in 2023.
The unranked Tar Heels’ 16-player roster includes five returning players from last season and 11 newcomers, including four freshmen, six transfers, and one international player entering as a junior.
Senior forward Jarid Stevenson is the lone returning starter from last year’s team, which went 24-9 overall and 12-6 in the ACC. Monday’s game will take place on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Smith Center.
Meanwhile, in Durham, the Duke Blue Devils come into the season ranked No. 2. They’ll also hold their first tipoff on Monday, getting started with a game against Army West Point at 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Former Duke player Jon Scheyer is beginning his fifth season as head coach of the Blue Devils and his 14th on the Duke coaching staff. Scheyer’s 124 wins and 25 victories over AP-ranked opponents are the most by a Division I coach in their first four seasons.
Despite losing one of the two Boozer brothers to the NBA Draft (Cayden remains in Durham), some experts are favoring Duke to win the championship, with Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino insisting the team is “in a class by themselves.”
Unpacking the Cherokee experience during the American Revolution
The State Archives of North Carolina will host a virtual program on Wednesday exploring the complex history of the American Revolution in the Cherokee homeland and the challenges of commemorating the conflict in western North Carolina, according to a release.
Titled “Remembering the American Revolution in the Cherokee Homeland,” the event will feature Shana Bushyhead Condill, executive director of the Museum of the Cherokee People and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and Andrew Denson, a professor of history at Western Carolina University.
Speakers will discuss the history of the Revolution in Cherokee ancestral lands, where the conflict brought violence and destruction amid a much longer struggle to protect Cherokee land and communities. They also will examine the development of the Museum of the Cherokee People’s current exhibition, “Unrelenting: Cherokee People and the American Revolution.”
The free online program will take place from 2-3 p.m. Register here.
