All 170 seats in the General Assembly will be on the November 2nd ballot, but a handful of competitive races will decide whether Democrats retain their longtime control of the House and Senate or whether the Republicans will assume power. Civitas Institute Senior Legislative Analyst Chris Hayes dissects the dynamics at play in the key races. While Hayes has been busy crunching numbers for North Carolina legislative races, other pundits have been studying the likelihood that Republicans will win big nationally. Democratic consultant Gary Pearce, Republican strategist Marc Rotterman, and John Locke Foundation President John Hood discussed likely outcomes during a recent JLF election preview Headliner event in Raleigh. You’ll hear highlights from their discussion. Then we turn the issue of so-called “market failure.” Twenty years have passed since N.C. State economist Stephen Margolis helped debunk the notion that the standard QWERTY typewriting keyboard succeeded because of some “market failure.” Margolis continues to challenge arguments that government experts need to play a greater role in preventing such “failures.” He discussed the topic recently with a John Locke Foundation audience. That’s followed by a look at economic freedom around the world. The late economist Milton Friedman spent most of his career trumpeting the value of economic freedom. On this year’s Friedman Legacy for Freedom Day, Fayetteville State University professor Edward Stringham explored the enduring importance of economic freedom. Stringham has helped measure the impact of economic freedom in countries around the world. And finally, Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson discusses the latest developments in two key campaign finance investigations. Last week we learned of subpoenas in the John Edwards saga, where investigators are believed to be zeroing in on whether the Edwards campaign used donor dollars to help support Edwards mistress Rielle Hunter. In the other development, we learned the SBI will look at questions swirling around unreported campaign flights taken by the Beverly Perdue campaign.
Will voters Hand the GOP the General Assembly?
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