CHAPEL HILL, NC—In an historically tight election cycle that comes to an end today, [candidate]’s and [other candidate]’s long battle over [big issues, #1, #2, and #3,] ends. It’s been a closely watched election that could change the longterm trajectory of the [body of government].*

*NOTE: (Charles, can we get a stronger lede than this? Give me a snapshot of something like: “[Candidate] enters their [hometown polling location] to quick hellos and some cheers…” or even “It’s close again in [battleground state].” Let’s try to be original.)

After debates, in which [candidate] looked strong, leaning on their base to rally support, and [other candidate] faltered before ultimately gaining ground, the polls have not budged much. [Candidate] came in with strong outside [the geographical location] funding, but [other candidate] has had a strong grassroots effort. The question may again come down to [?].

[Issue #1] has been a fulcrum for many voters, too.

“We know that voters want to hear about [issue #1],” said [party] spokesperson [probably a Susan?]. “The voters are fired up about making a change.”

But, [other party spokesperson] says that their proposal has had people more excited than ever.

“The [party mentioned first] has a lot of talk, they’ve talked a lot about changing things, but what are they going to do?” said [other party spokesperson] Randy Trenton. “The answer is nothing. They don’t know to make real change—they only know how to attack others.”

Many voters say they have had trouble investing in either campaign.

“It’s all so negative,” said one [old person]. “I want someone who will get something done.”

Many pollsters have said that [demographic group] could be the real decider of who is creating policy for [battleground state] over the next [# of years].

“It’s close, extremely close, and we’ve seen over and over that getting [certain demographic group] out to the polls is what determines the election,” said [nerd pollster, who looks like a total nerd]. “It all comes down to [demographic group].”

Within the campaigns, much of the talk centers around [national political issue not related to campaign].

“What people are really voting on is [national political issue not related to campaign],” said [party strategist who cannot speak on the record]. “And it’s just not something we knew we’d have to address, we thought this campaign would be about [issue #1, #2 or #3].”

“These [big issues] are about real people like [person candidate met to include in stump speech] and [other person candidate met to include in stump speech],” he said. “It can’t be just the same narrative and people every year, [battleground state] wants–no needs–a real change in leadership, a change in this long story of sameness.”

Great work, needs more obviously. We’ll keep adjusting before publishing. Also, did you see what Jim wore to work today? Seriously, it’s Friday but fuck me. Keep me updated on the story.