Donald Trump’s visit to New Hanover County, specifically the Wilmington International Airport, highlights the importance of the “Port City” and its home county, one of two North Carolina counties that embraced Trump in 2016 and rejected him in 2020. New Hanover has become one of the most purple counties in North Carolina, and the largest...
The television ad run against State Sen. Bob Steinburg was brutal. The ad accused Steinburg, R-Chowan, of being responsible for the closure of a rural hospital, leading to a woman’s death due to heart issues. Visuals in the ad include the woman’s husband visiting her gravesite. The message was clear: Steinburg was killing people by...
Carolina Journal is taking a brief look at each new member of the General Assembly — 10 in the Senate and 11 in the House. We look at where they’ve been, what they’re doing now, and what we might expect them to do as lawmakers. The 2021-22 session began in late January. Expect COVID-19 and the ongoing...
While some lawmakers are leaving the General Assembly in 2020, 11 former legislators are aiming for a comeback. The 2020 general election ballot will include 11 former lawmakers aiming to reclaim a spot at the General Assembly. Returning lawmakers have some advantages over an average challenger, said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western...
The General Assembly is one step closer to settling the smokable hemp dispute after months of deliberation. In a 40-10 vote Monday, Oct. 28, the Senate passed the farm bill, which includes a provision to ban smokable hemp in June 2020. Law enforcement officials have been pushing to ban the smokable hemp flower because it’s...
A Senate bill establishing a disposal plan for solar energy panels cleared its first hurdle. The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources voted Thursday, June 13, to send Senate Bill 568 to the Finance Committee amid protests from some committee members. They said environmental protection regulations are premature. Bill sponsor Sen. Paul...
If all the solar panels from industrial-scale electric plants in North Carolina were laid end to end, they would stretch from Raleigh to San Francisco and back nearly four times. Yet the state has no plan to handle the 475,000 tons of panels once they wear out and become waste. Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, a...
UPDATED, 8:46 a.m. Republican John Alexander may have kept his seat in Senate District 18. The most recent count from the state elections board shows Alexander defeating Mack Paul by roughly 2,500 votes. Gov. Roy Cooper will have some new partners at the negotiating table in 2019: The Republican majority in the state Senate will...
Senate District 9, New Hanover County. • Michael Lee. Republican (two-term incumbent). Education: Wake Forest University School of Law, J.D., and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A. Occupation: Lawyer. Career highlights: Co-chairman of the committee for Appropriations on Education/Higher Education. • Harper Peterson. Democrat. Education: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill....
Two of the top issues in the race present a sharp contrast between what has become a core government service and what should never be considered one.
Mayoral elections in North Carolina's largest cities during the 1990s proved to be a harbinger of larger political trends. In 2005, many incumbents face token opposition, though spirited races can still be found in several cities.
