News

NC legislators reach compromise on abortion, bill would ban it after 12-weeks

On Tuesday evening, legislators announced that veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate chambers had reached a compromise to ban elective abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. A group of 10 female legislators—all of whom are Republicans—introduced the bill to the public.

Alex Baltzegar
Video

Legislative committee debates abortion policy bill

Watch the entire debate with public comment here. The joint legislative Rules Committee spent two hours debating legislation that among other measures would ban abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy with some exceptions, plus spends $160 million on programs including access to birth control, childcare, and other programs. .

News

NC K-3 early-literacy skills exceed the rest of the country

Children in grades K-3 in North Carolina have surpassed the rest of the nation when it comes to their early literacy skills. That’s according to NC Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt, who shared the news at Tuesday’s Council of State meeting. 

Theresa Opeka
News

NC House committee passes bill banning transgender surgeries for minors

A bill that would ban transgender surgeries for minors in North Carolina was hurried through a House committee on Tuesday. House Bill 808, Youth Health Protection Act, prohibits health care workers from providing “surgical gender transition procedures to any individual under 18 years of age.” “If you are under the age of 18 in North...

David N. Bass
News

NC Appeals Court affirms dismissal of Chatham County Confederate monument case

A unanimous N.C. Court of Appeals panel has affirmed a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit challenging removal of a Confederate monument at the Chatham County Courthouse in Pittsboro. Appellate judges ruled that plaintiffs lacked legal standing to file their suit.

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