News
Senate passes bill restricting student cell phone use in class
A bill limiting cell phone use in classrooms has passed in the Senate with bipartisan support.
News
Griffin opposes full Appeals Court hearing, Murry recusal in election dispute
Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin opposes Democrat Allison Riggs’s proposal for the full state Appeals Court to hear Griffin’s case challenging more than 65,000 ballots cast in the Nov. 5 election. Griffin also opposes Riggs’ request that one appellate judge not take part in the case at all.
Video
The Debrief with State Auditor Dave Boliek
This week on The Debrief, we’re pulling back the curtain on North Carolina’s state government! Newly elected State Auditor Dave Boliek joins us to reveal what he’s uncovering as he steps into office—and what needs to change to make government more transparent and accountable. Don’t miss this inside scoop!
News
NC’s Dellinger drops his legal fight after court rules Trump can fire him
North Carolina's Hampton Dellinger is dropping his legal fight to keep his job leading the federal Office of Special Counsel. Dellinger made that announcement Thursday, one day after a federal Appeals Court ruled that President Donald Trump could fire Dellinger.
News
NC State drops course requirement, as Trump moves to eliminate DEI in higher ed
In response to the Executive Order, the University of North Carolina System is directing chancellors to review required courses for college students. On February 10th, NC State's provost office notified all students, staff, and faculty via email that the university is suspending the US DEI requirement in accordance with a system-wide memo sent to chancellors at all 17 UNC institutions.
News
Auditor Boliek intervening in legal fight over NC elections board’s future
State Auditor Dave Boliek is intervening in the legal dispute over administration and appointments for North Carolina’s State Board of Elections. State law calls for Boliek to begin oversight of the elections board on July 1.
Opinion
Opinion
Federalist 18: Insufficiency of Present Confederation to Preserve Union cont..
As a weak government, when not at war, is ever agitated by internal dissentions, so these never fail to bring on fresh calamities from abroad.
Opinion
Supreme Court was right to protect donor privacy, and NC was ready
This decision is good news for every organization that has ever stood in government’s crosshairs for holding the “wrong” views. And it is good news for every North Carolinian who has ever written a check to a cause worth fighting for.
Opinion
Hedge-fund winnings from courtroom bets aren’t capital gains
When a hedge fund stakes $20 million on a mass tort and walks away with $200 million, somehow the IRS is supposed to treat it like a lucrative investment into an early Silicon Valley unicorn.
Opinion
Celebrating the late birthday of NC women’s right to vote
By 1971, however, feminism and women’s rights were emerging issues, and North Carolina had not ratified women’s most basic political right, the right to vote.
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 analyzes NC’s marquee Senate race
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses North Carolina’s high-profile US Senate race. Kokai offered these comments during an April 21, 2026, interview with WNCN (CBS17).
Video
Locke’s Donald Bryson analyzes NC teacher pay proposals
John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson discusses current ideas for raising teacher pay in North Carolina. Bryson offered these comments during the April 10, 2026, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
Video
Locke’s Mitch Kokai analyzes Berger’s election concession
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses Sen. Phil Berger’s concession in his primary election loss to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. Kokai offered these comments during the March 27, 2026, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
Video
Carolina Journal analyzes Berger’s election concession
Nick Craig of the Carolina Journal News Hour and the John Locke Foundation’s Mitch Kokai discuss Senate Leader Phil Berger’s election concession on March 24, 2026.
Video
Cooper, King analyze recent polling in NC’s US Senate race
Political scientist Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University and Carolina Journal Editor-in-Chief Donna King discuss recent polls in North Carolina’s 2026 US Senate race. Cooper and King offered these comments during the Jan. 23, 2026, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
Culture
Opinion
How UNC silenced satire and the Daily Tar Heel
The articles may have been a bit out of touch, yes — but many of them were also really funny. And more importantly, students on campus should have the latitude to make clumsy jokes.
Opinion
Carolinians helped shape comic culture
While we properly associate American pop culture with places such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, I’d recently come to appreciate the pivotal contributions of North and South Carolinians to the pulp fiction of the early 20th century and the comic-book culture that followed it.
News
Gov. Stein presents Long Leaf Pine honors at Executive Mansion
The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is one of North Carolina’s highest civilian honors, awarded to individuals with a proven record of extraordinary service to the state.
News
NC home to key figures in renewed religious freedom debate
Although the debate is national in scope, NC has become an unexpected focal point, with figures like Greear, Wolfe, and Spangler reflecting an ongoing divide within American conservatism over the role religion should play in public life.
Civil Society
Opinion
The importance of civic engagement 250 years after the founding
What YMCA's Youth and Government program is doing is remarkable. This year’s conference garnered interest from NC state legislators, mayors, policy analysts, and state officials.
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...