North Carolina's presidential primary not only matters for the first time in decades but has become crucial in the Democratic nomination fight. With 115 delegates up for grabs, it's the second-biggest prize left and will soon attract a swarm of campaign teams, packed rallies and the national spotlight.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's victories in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday not only ended Sen. Barack Obama's 12-state winning streak but added significance to a win in North Carolina on May 6. Only Pennsylvania's April 22 primary, with 158 delegates at stake, is a bigger prize among the 12 remaining contests.

Tuesday's votes and caucuses in Ohio and Texas are already reverberating in the Tarheel State. The Clinton campaign authorized funding for a North Carolina office Wednesday, and in the coming weeks it will dispatch staffers.

"You're going to see campaign apparatus opening up in North Carolina before long," said Harold Ickes, a top Clinton adviser. "You're going to see more and more activity."

Ken Eudy, an Obama organizer and veteran political strategist in Raleigh, said the campaign is already shifting staff and resources from Ohio and Texas -- first to Pennsylvania and then to North Carolina.

"We don't know when the moving vans are coming in," Eudy said, "but they're coming."

Both campaigns are predicting sustained visits by the Clintons and Obamas.

The volume of phone calls to N.C. Democrats affiliated with each campaign has spiked. Volunteers are dialing party headquarters asking how to sign up for one candidate or the other.

"We got quite a number of calls from people this morning who wanted Obama or Clinton stickers, to know whether there are campaign offices in North Carolina," said Kerra Bolton, communications director for the state party, who said she fields 10 to 20 such calls a day.

The campaigns are starting to transform those phone messages and Web site entries from a virtual organization to one that's on the ground.

Pity our politicians

The downside for N.C. Democrats is that the presidential hoopla could shove the race for the parties' nominations for governor and other statewide offices into the background. They'll be competing for voters' attention against a national story.

The next delegate bonanza is Pennsylvania, where Clinton leads in the polls and has Gov. Ed Rendell's backing. Even with a victory there, however, she would still trail Obama in the pledged delegate count.

"She will have the perceived momentum of having won. He will have the mathematical argument of maintaining his delegate lead. North Carolina serves as the tiebreaker," said Joe Sinsheimer, a former Democratic consultant in North Carolina who worked on Obama's 2004 Senate campaign.

An Obama win in North Carolina would put him on the path for the nomination, Sinsheimer said. It would stop Clinton's momentum and add to his delegate lead.

A Clinton victory, though, would give her a succession of big wins to fuel her campaign.

North Carolina organizers for Clinton joined a conference call Wednesday with national staffers. The group included former Ambassador Mark Erwin and former Springs Industries Chief Executive Crandall Bowles, both of Charlotte.

"One thing that was clear [in the call]: Senator Clinton, President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton are all going to spend a considerable amount of time in North Carolina between now and the primary," said Bruce Thompson, a Raleigh lawyer and a Clinton point man in the state.

Better get TiVo

Television commercials are bound to follow.

"The happiest people in the state this morning were the sales managers for the TV and radio stations," Eudy said.

Both campaigns acknowledged an impatience, or at least a prolonged eagerness, among supporters for more visible activity in the state.

"Any frustration anybody might have had a week or two ago about what's going on in North Carolina, that's being answered today," Thompson said. "You'll see that from both campaigns. You had people talking and asking what to do. Now they'll be getting assignments."

The campaigns argued in separate conference calls with reporters Wednesday that it is their candidate who will show prowess in primary states, such as North Carolina, that typically vote Republican in the general election. Democrats hope to steal some of these states away from the GOP this fall.

"A Democrat is going to win California. I believe a Democrat is going to win New York. I believe a Democrat is going to win Massachusetts," said Obama strategist David Axelrod in a conference call with reporters. "But who can bring other states into the mix?"

(Charlotte Observer reporter Peter St. Onge contributed to this story.)