Roughly half of unaffiliated voters can truly be called “swing voters,” while the remaining portion hew closely to the two major political parties in voting patterns. That’s the bottom line of a new report, “Growing and Distinct: The Unaffiliated Voter as Unmoored Voter,” written by Dr. Michael Bitzer of Catawba College, Dr. Chris Cooper of...
COVID-19 and resulting restrictions didn’t just hit schools and businesses; many churches have been devastated by plummeting attendance and donations. The Episcopal Church USA, who this month reported their 2021 numbers, was particularly hard hit, and North Carolina was second only to Oregon in attendance loss among the church’s 110 dioceses. “While in-person average Sunday...
North Carolina U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis has been working on fellow Republicans to support the Respect for Marriage Act, and found success Tuesday as it passed the chamber, 61-36. The U.S. House is expected to pass the bill by the end of the year. It will then go to President Biden's desk for signature. Opponents say it puts a target on religious organizations.
A new report ranks North Carolina fifth in the nation for number of new charter school enrollments during the pandemic. The ranking is another feather in the cap for the Tar Heel State when it comes to the growth of school choice in recent years. The report, produced by the National Alliance for Charter Schools,...
*This article was updated at 12:45pm on December 1, 2022 The State Board of Elections on Tuesday unanimously certified the results of the 2022 general election in North Carolina. The certification means that the board members are confident that the votes cast on Nov. 8 have been counted and tabulated correctly. The final canvass report...
Rather than consider Medicaid expansion during the lame duck session, Republican leadership in North Carolina has decided to take up the issue in the new General Assembly next year. Their best option in 2023 would be to reject the expansion while adopting two other reforms that were in this year’s house bill. A bill introduced this session proposed both...
In much of the country, the Republican Party fell well short of expectations in the 2022 midterms. Flawed GOP nominees in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Arizona lost winnable races for U.S. Senate, thus consigning their party to another two years in the minority. Democrats lost their U.S. House majority but only by a sliver...
Focusing on the purported problems of the Independent State Legislature theory, observers miss the actual dispute in North Carolina's redistricting case.
I’m a fiscally conservative North Carolinian — and I think state taxes should be significantly higher. No, I haven’t lost my head, or my spine. And while I’m a committed supply-sider, I’m not referring here to projected revenues from a fast-growing economy. I truly mean North Carolina ought to levy higher state taxes. But only...
The N.C. State Board of Elections (NCSBE) had an emergency meeting at 2:30 p.m. on Election Day to extend voting for three precincts that had experienced delays. The board voted unanimously to approve a motion to extend voting for one additional hour at all three.
Midway through early voting the percentage of voters that are registered Democrat is down compared to 2018 and 2020. While Republicans have warmed up to early voting over the years, Democrats still dominate early voting and Republicans dominate election day voting.
North Carolina's 6th Congressional District Republican candidate, Army special forces veteran Christian Castelli, claims the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Kathy Manning, is making false statements about him, and he's just filed a cease-and-desist letter to make it stop.
Recent polling reveals an emerging trend in favor of Republican Ted Budd over Democrat Cheri Beasley in the contest for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat. A Marist poll released Oct. 26 put Budd up 49% to 45% over Beasley among those definitely voting in the election, now less than two weeks away. The poll is...
As the 2022 midterms near their end on Nov. 8, candidates in North Carolina’s congressional races are spending whatever resources they have to get an advantage over their rivals. And according to late-October financial reports, Democrat candidates raised more in the third quarter in every major race. Republicans, alternatively, have spent more in independent expenditures...
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, asks N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, about his education priorities. This exchange took place during the Nov. 25, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, asks Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, about potential abortion legislation in the 2023 N.C. legislative session. This exchange took place during the Nov. 25, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses issues N.C. families might discuss at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Kokai offered these comments during the Nov. 24, 2022, edition of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, asks State Treasurer Dale Folwell about his priorities for the 2023 legislative session. This exchange took place during the Nov. 18, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, assesses the performance of election polls in the 2022 midterms. Kokai offered these comments during the Nov. 16, 2022, edition of Spectrum News 1’s “Capital Tonight.”
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, asks Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, about potential abortion legislation in the 2023 N.C. legislative session. This exchange took place during the Nov. 25, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Just 20% of North Carolinians plan to do their holiday shopping on Black Friday, compared to 40% on Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year. The NC Chamber is highlighting products made in the state to make finishing your list a little easier.
I stand, somewhat alone, as a Millennial who has resisted adding the term “Friendsgiving" to my personal lexicon. But even below the surface, I don't like the implication that you aren’t really giving thanks when feasting with friends rather than family. Also, it seems like another sign of the declining importance of the family unit in society, especially with younger generations.
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a...
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the New York Times’ column warning about America’s “free-speech problem.” Kokai offered these comments during the March 25, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Canadian professor, author, and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson on Thursday offered a non-political and largely academic lecture on the psychology of beauty, dreams, and purpose. The reaction from city officials and activists to the address at the Durham Performing Arts Center was night-and-day from the one leading up to his appearance four years earlier. It...
As the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine continues to escalate, North Carolina’s local Ukrainian population is rallying to bring attention to the suffering of people in their homeland and to gather supplies to help them. Donna Goldstein, co-president of the Ukrainian Association of North Carolina, finds herself at the forefront of these efforts. Goldstein has...
The fourth estate, journalism, is racing to receivership unless we can rescue it from its rapacious self. The hubris hasn’t always been this bad, this blatant, or this biased, yet it worsens daily. In the town I grew up in, Nashville, Tennessee, there were two newspapers in the 1950s and 1960s, one for the morning,...
One of the goals within our cultural wars is to push Christmas aside, to make even more room for divisive politicized agendas that tear us apart.