The campaigns of Mike McIntyre and Ilario Pantano both said Thursday they are encouraged by early voting numbers across the 7th Congressional District. As of late Wednesday, about a week into the early voting period, nearly 27,000 votes had been cast in the district, which includes all or parts of 10 Southeastern North Carolina counties. That’s about 6 percent of the registered voters. Which boxes were checked on those early ballots, of course, won’t be known until late in the day Nov. 2. The early voting numbers offer a glimpse into voter trends in the dynamic race between the incumbent...