RALEIGH – The candidate filing period for the 2016 elections closed Monday, with nearly 2,000 hopefuls signing up to vie for election to various local and statewide offices.

Here are five quick observations about the 2016 candidates and races:

1) Early winners. In the 120-seat N.C. House, 41 candidates don’t have primary or general election opponents, meaning they essentially won two-year terms on Monday. An additional 16 House seats will be decided in the March 15 primary because only one political party fielded candidates in those districts.

In the Senate, 13 incumbents didn’t draw any primary or general election opposition, meaning they were essentially re-elected, barring a successful write-in campaign, which is highly unlikely. In two additional districts, the winner will be known after the primary.

In other words, about a third of the General Assembly was all but elected when the filing period ended. And by the end of the primary, 57 House seats and 15 Senate seats will be decided, or 42 percent of the legislative seats.

2) Decisions, decisions. Why can’t every state legislative district be like Senate District 36, which includes Cabarrus and Union counties? There, four Republicans are vying for the GOP nomination and two Democrats want their party’s line on the ballot. Voters in that district will have choices in both the March primary and the November general election. That’s a good thing.

3) Show me the money. Several of the top fundraisers among Senate Republicans aren’t opposed in either the primary or general elections, so they can use all of the money they raise to help fellow Republicans in contested districts. Senate leader Phil Berger and Sens. Harry Brown, Brent Jackson, Bill Rabon, Kathy Harrington and Jerry Tillman are all unopposed in 2016. This doesn’t bode well for Senate Democrats. Republicans hold a veto-proof majority in the Senate.

Also, wouldn’t you think Democrats would at least want to try to unseat some of the most powerful Republicans in the Senate, even if the odds are against them?

By the way, House Speaker Tim Moore and a few other members of the House leadership team – Reps. Mike Hager, Jason Saine and Kelly Hastings, to name three – also won’t have opponents next year.

4) Brannon’s back. Cary obstetrician and Tea Party Republican Greg Brannon filed to run in a primary against U.S. Sen. Richard Burr at the 11th hour of the candidate filing period, throwing a curve ball into what seemed would be an easy run to the GOP nomination for Burr. Two little-known Republicans also are vying for the GOP nomination. Four Democrats and a Libertarian also want Burr’s Senate seat.

Brannon, who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in a Republican primary in 2014, is again touting his grassroots support in trying to defeat an “establishment” politician in the year of Donald Trump. In an email to supporters announcing his run, Brannon called Burr a “Washington insider,” saying he would have more than $5 million to “tar-and-feather my campaign and attack me personally.”

The Democratic U.S. Senate candidates can only hope Burr uses much of his money during primary season.

5) Free Rides. Some guys have all the luck. State Rep. Mitchell Setzer, a Catawba Republican, is one of them. In a General Assembly career that spans parts of three decades, he’s faced only one election opponent since his first race in 1998, a weak challenge from a Libertarian back in 2002. This year is no different. Setzer is unopposed in both the primary and general elections. He’ll remain in the House for his 10th two-year term, beginning in 2017.

Over in the Senate, Sen. Harry Brown, a Jacksonville Republican and Senate majority leader, doesn’t remember what it’s like to have an opponent either. Next year will mark Brown’s fifth consecutive election season without one.

Patrick Gannon writes columns for Capitol Press Association.