News

Revisiting Trump special counsel Jack Smith’s failed prosecution of John Edwards

Jack Smith, the Department of Justice’s special counsel who indicted former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over his mishandling of classified documents, has connections to the Tar Heel State through his failed prosecution of former U.S. Sen. John Edwards. Smith, as head of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, led efforts to indict Edwards...

Grant Lefelar
News

Hudson zeroes in on HHS secretary for misleading statements on NC migrant facility

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-NC8, accused U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra of misleading him and other North Carolinians about plans to house unaccompanied migrant children at a Greensboro facility at a hearing Wednesday.

Theresa Opeka
News

Possible NC gas pipeline crops up once during 4th Circuit arguments

The possibility of a Mountain Valley Pipeline extension into North Carolina cropped up once during more than an hour of arguments Thursday at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Appellate judges are debating whether to dismiss a case from environmental activists challenging pipeline permits.

CJ Staff
News

Private school groups back Charlotte Latin in legal dispute over ‘political culture’

Two groups representing private schools urge the N.C. Court of Appeals to uphold a ruling favoring Charlotte Latin in its legal dispute with parents of two expelled students. Parents Doug and Nicole Turpin filed a lawsuit citing their concern about Charlotte Latin's shift toward a “political culture and curriculum” in 2020-21.

CJ Staff

Opinion

Elections

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

Videos

Video

Locke’s Mitch Kokai assesses NC health care funding challenge

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses North Carolina’s health care funding challenges linked to the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Kokai offered these comments during the Jan. 16, 2026, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Mitch Kokai
Video

Locke’s Donald Bryson discusses tariffs’ impact in North Carolina

John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson discusses the impact of tariffs in North Carolina. A new Locke report from North Carolina State University Professor Jeffrey Dorfman estimates a $695 million negative impact on the state’s farming industry, with 8,000 lost jobs. Bryson offered these comments during the Jan. 13, 2026, edition of Spectrum News 1’s...

Donald Bryson
Video

Carolina Journal’s Jeff Moore analyzes NC legislators’ tax and budget impasse

Jeff Moore, John Locke Foundation vice president of communications, discusses factors leading to a tax and budget impasse among North Carolina’s legislative leaders. Moore offered these comments during the Jan. 9, 2026, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Jeff Moore
Video

The Debrief: Revolutionary Roads – Protest in Petticoats

In this special episode of The Debrief, John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson sits down with Carolina Journal editor Donna King to explore a bold chapter in North Carolina’s revolutionary history: the Edenton Tea Party. They discuss the significance of this early act of political protest and its impact on the American Revolution. For more...

Donald Bryson, Donna King

Culture

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