tom tillus. the virtual tie with incumbent senator kay haggen. tillus who compained with senators john mccain and weathered a broad range of attacks. tillus meanwhile has been hammering his opponent for following the president's agenda and this represents a clear choice. >> i want a america that is a super power. senator haggen and the liberal media outlets want a government that is large enough to give anything and powerful enough to take it away. >> haggen has been fighting a narrative that the first term in the senate was disappointment and done the minimum you would expect. and still she's kept it more competitive than in louisiana and alaska. democrats are outpacing republicans according to the analyst who analyzes the early voting trends. >> if you look at the track record in terms of the early vote, democrats are doing well even though they should be depressed and nationally the enthusasm is on the republican side. but here in north carolina, democrats have the edge. >> tom till us said democrats have the edge in early voting but republican