In a nonpartisan race that could tip the ideological balance on the state Supreme Court, Wake County Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan and sitting Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Bob Edmunds each are touting his respective experience, track record, and judicial temperament as reasons to sit on the state’s highest court. Four Republicans and three...
The power of incumbency is on display in the Senate District 19 race between Republican state Sen. Wesley Meredith and Democratic challenger Toni Morris. Meredith has served in the Senate since 2010, and he has the experience of fending off well-financed challengers. Two years ago he spent more than $1 million to retain his seat,...
Republican state Sen. Tom McInnis expects a “Trump Bump” to send him back for a second term in the North Carolina legislature. But Democratic challenger Dannie Montgomery is counting on a large early voting turnout to smooth any groundswell of support for McInnis. The candidates are competing in District 25, comprising Richmond, Scotland, Anson, and...
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is pushing a health-care plan similar to a proposal Dr. Ben Carson floated during his short run in the Republican primary. “He very much likes the kind of plan that I’ve been talking about,” Carson told Carolina Journal on Wednesday night. Carson, a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon who advises Trump on...
Editor’s note: This story was corrected after initial publication. U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, the Republican incumbent for North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District, is running on his track record and roots in the district. Democratic challenger Thomas Mills, a former social worker and campaign consultant who’s also a political blogger, says Hudson has been entrenched too...
Taxpayer advocates, public policy analysts, and Republican Party officials Tuesday slammed a Wake County sales tax referendum and characterized a proposed transit plan as a giant boondoggle. The plan, they say, would cost billions and accommodate few people. In the first 10 years, according to the Wake County Transit Plan, $2.3 billion in construction costs...
Spindale Town Councilman Ben Edwards said he was agitated when he learned House Majority Leader Mike Hager was running unopposed in House District 112, which the Republican had represented since 2011. Edwards, who’s registered unaffiliated, expected someone else to step up to oppose Hager. When nobody filed, he went about the task of collecting the...
The presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump “is Clinton’s to lose at this point,” and Democratic state Attorney General Roy Cooper “has lost the advantage he had in the past couple of weeks” against Republican incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory, according to political analyst Joe Stewart. Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr...
One of the main issues in the race for House District 41 is health insurance — specifically whether and how the state should deal with Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. The incumbent, Gale Adcock, a Democrat and a nurse practitioner, wants the state to expand Medicaid so more of the state’s low-income and...
Editor’s note: This story was corrected after initial publication to clarify several statements Dr. Frank Moretz made to Carolina Journal. RALEIGH — Democratic incumbent Rep. John Ager and Republican challenger Dr. Frank Moretz have deep roots in Western North Carolina, and hold similar views on some matters. But as they battle in a tight race for...
Dare County Commissioners Warren Judge and Beverly Boswell are vying for the open House District 6 seat vacated by state Rep. Paul Tine of Kitty Hawk, who had been the only unaffiliated representative in the House. Tine said he would not seek re-election because he wished to spend more time with his family. Judge, a...
