Podcast

Carolina Journal Radio No. 705: Burr could play important Senate role as Trump heads to D.C.

Republican Donald Trump shocked many political observers by winning the presidential race, including North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes. Republican incumbent Richard Burr withstood a hard campaign from Democratic challenger Deborah Ross to win a third term as North Carolina’s senior U.S. senator. Carolina Journal Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson analyzes the significance of these election results and...

Rick Henderson
Video

Carolina Journal’s Rick Henderson discusses Burr’s potential health care role

Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses re-elected U.S. Sen. Richard Burr’s potential impact on federal health care policy in 2017. Henderson offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio.

Rick Henderson
News

State elections board meeting Tuesday to set vote-counting guidelines

In an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon, the State Board of Elections voted to meet Tuesday at 10 a.m. to establish legal guidelines for counties to resolve complaints about ballot challenges in the Nov. 8 election. The board, with three Republican and two Democratic members, rejected a request from GOP Gov. Pat McCrory’s re-election committee to...

Rick Henderson
News

Elections Board holding emergency meeting to decide on protests

The State Board of Elections has called an emergency meeting for 4 p.m. today to consider a request from the McCrory Committee to have the state board assume jurisdiction over all the protests filed at county election boards over the race between incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory and Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper. Notice and responses here....

Rick Henderson
Video

JLF’s Terry Stoops outlines 2017 N.C. education goals

Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation director of research and education studies, answers host Keith Poston’s question about education priorities in North Carolina for 2017. This exchange took place during the Nov. 20, 2016, edition of WRAL’s “Education Matters.”

Dr. Terry Stoops
Video

JLF’s John Hood outlines process of resolving contested N.C. elections

John Locke Foundation Chairman John Hood answers host Tom Campbell’s question about the process of resolving contested elections for North Carolina’s Council of State. This exchange took place during the Nov. 20, 2016, episode of “N.C. Spin.”

John Hood
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Opinion

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...

John Hood
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Elections

Opinion

Should NC reform its primary system? The case to return to 40% threshold

In a Carolina Journal poll conducted shortly after the November elections, 43% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the 2024 primaries, stating that they did not produce the best candidates for the general election. While 46% were satisfied and 10% were unsure, the significant level of dissatisfaction highlights potential issues within North Carolina’s primary system.

Donna King
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."

Theresa Opeka
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.

CJ Staff
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.

CJ Staff
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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.”

Mitch Kokai
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.”

Donald Bryson
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.”

Donna King
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...

Video

Locke’s Mitch Kokai analyzes congressional hearing in Charlotte after light rail murder

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the congressional hearing conducted in Charlotte in connection with the high-profile Iryna Zarutska murder. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 3, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Mitch Kokai
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Culture

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Civil Society

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...

David Larson
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...

Dallas Woodhouse
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