News
US attorney seeks dismissal of libel suit against Harrigan
The US attorney for North Carolina’s Middle District is taking steps to get a recent libel lawsuit against US Rep. Pat Harrigan dismissed.
News
Treasurer, state employees group back challenge to NC CON law
The state treasurer and state employees association support a New Bern eye surgeon’s challenge of the state’s certificate-of-need health care restrictions.
Video
The Debrief: Trump tariffs head to the high court
Voters in many North Carolina cities made their choices this week in municipal elections. We recap the top results and look at some of the major voting decisions across the nation. Then we turn attention to a national story with major North Carolina implications: the future of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The nation’s highest court...
News
Stein calls on lawmakers to fund the Medicaid rebase
Gov. Josh Stein is once again calling on the General Assembly to fund the Medicaid rebase by convening in a special session on Nov. 17.
News
Could this week’s elections signal a partisan shift in NC?
The 2026 CPI suggests that, while Democrats may be gaining energy in cities and suburbs, Republicans maintain the upper hand in the state legislature.
News
Nov. 19 injunction hearing set in suits against NC congressional map
Federal judges will expedite two lawsuits challenging North Carolina’s new congressional map. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled Nov. 19 in Winston-Salem.
Opinion
Opinion
The choice on housing is between affordability and control
There's a much easier and cheaper way to make housing affordable: stop trying to control the process and let the market create the housing it needs.
Opinion
A week of homicides in Charlotte, as NC leaders turn blind eye
Gov. Stein should emulate the success in Washington, DC, where President Trump's deployment of the National Guard slashed violent crime by nearly half in the weeks following the surge — including 12 straight days without a homicide.
Opinion
Never, never give up: A life defined by truth and service
When Eugene “Gene” Boyce passed away on Oct. 28, NC lost not only one of its finest legal minds but also a man who carried a piece of American history with him.
Opinion
Low debt burden aids North Carolina
Because I’m a fiscal conservative, you might think I reflexively oppose government borrowing. You’d be mistaken. I believe that public finance and toxicology share a common rule: the dose makes the poison. That phrase is traditionally attributed to Paracelsus, a physician and philosopher of the German Renaissance, but the underlying notion, that something can be...
Elections
News
Boliek sworn in as state auditor, says he’ll start with audit of DMV
On Wednesday, Dave Boliek was sworn in as the new state auditor of North Carolina and announced his hires for senior staff and says he will start work with an audit of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
News
2024 in review: A year of civic engagement in NC
The year 2024 was marked by significant developments across politics, the economy, education, and energy in North Carolina. As one of the nation’s most dynamic and closely watched states, it played a pivotal role in shaping regional and national conversations.
News
Trump nominates Bishop to be deputy director for budget at OMB
"Dan has been a tireless fighter for our MAGA Movement in the House of Representatives on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees," Trump said in a press release issued Tuesday night. "Dan will implement my cost-cutting and deregulatory agenda across all Agencies, and root out the Weaponized Deep State."
News
Democrats want federal court to address GOP challenge of 60,000 NC ballots
The North Carolina Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday to ensure challenges of 60,000 ballots in the state's latest election are addressed in federal court. Republicans filed the challenges with the State Board of Elections. The challenges could affect the outcome of the state Supreme Court race between Democrat Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin, along with a handful of state legislative contests.
News
Griffin asks Appeals Court to order decision on election protests by Tuesday
Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin is turning to North Carolina’s second-highest court for an order that would force state election officials to make a final decision about Griffin’s election protests Tuesday. The State Board of Elections had planned to hear oral arguments about the protests the following day, according to a document Griffin filed Friday with the state Court of Appeals.
Videos
Video
Locke’s Mitch Kokai responds to AG Jackson’s lawsuit over SNAP benefits
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joining Democratic counterparts in other states in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. It focuses on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 31, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
Video
Locke’s Donald Bryson discusses SCOTUS case dealing with Trump’s emergency tariffs
Donald Bryson, John Locke Foundation CEO and Carolina Journal publisher, discusses the US Supreme Court case addressing President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs. Locke filed a joint amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of emergency tariffs. Bryson offered these comments during the Oct. 28, 2025, episode of Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight.”
Video
Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes NC congressional redistricting plans
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the North Carolina General Assembly’s plans to redraw the state’s congressional election map. King offered these comments during the Oct. 17, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
Video
Podcast: Revolutionary Roads
As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026, this podcast explores North Carolina’s pivotal role in the nation’s founding — from the War of Regulation to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and beyond. This 10-episode series, hosted by John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson, features guests with...
Video
The Debrief: Legislator arrested, Iryna’s Law aftermath, Oct. 7 remembered
This week on The Debrief, a Guilford County legislator’s arrest on sex-related charges prompts quick reaction from colleagues. Gov. Josh Stein chose an unusual way to signal his signing of Iryna’s Law. We discuss the governor’s video message and get expert analysis of the law’s potential impact. We also highlight a possible federal response. Lawmakers at the...
Culture
Opinion
Another John Birch moment
If the right fails to police their side and lets it be conquered by white nationalism and conspiracy madness, we will be dragged down the same way the left has been by "woke." And we will have nobody to blame but ourselves.
News
Historic discovery rewrites T. rex history
An NC State paleontologist discovered definitive proof that the Nanotyrannus is indeed its own species of dinosaur.
Opinion
5 years of fighting human trafficking in NC
Despite progress, there is still so much work ahead. NC consistently ranks among the top 10 states in the nation for reported human-trafficking cases.
Opinion
Locke’s lessons for a government in gridlock
John Locke's insights aren’t dusty history, but living ideas guiding how our government must act and what citizens must expect.
Civil Society
Opinion
Institute fosters stronger public leadership
Times change. When we introduce IOPL to potential fellows, partners, and donors, some hear the word “political” and think “toxic,” or at least “partisan.”
Opinion
NC leaders champion post-election unity through ‘Civic Saturdays’
Like a faith gathering, it incorporated music, fellowship, shared meals, and thoughtful discourse — but with democracy as its central theme.
Opinion
For healthy civil society, politics needs to stay in its lane
Political and cultural causes are important. They motivate us to make the world around us better and hone our sense of justice. Also, the excitement of fighting the good fight can be, for lack of a better word, fun. But everything has its time and place. And even if we think a particular political issue...
Opinion
Flashback: North Carolina’s Easter Monday tradition forged on the baseball diamond
On Good Friday state offices will be closed in North Carolina for Holy Week, along with 10 other states. However, that has not always been the case in North Carolina. The Monday after Easter — rather than Good Friday — was a legal holiday in North Carolina for 52 years, and for many years before...
Video
Carolina Journal’s Donna King discusses Disney going ‘woke’
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses Disney’s controversial programming changes. King offered these comments during the April 8, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”