In recent Carolina Journal polling, immigration and the economy were the top issues for voters. But if one was to judge based on current headlines and debate, it would appear that the presence of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) offices and initiatives on the state’s college campuses was also a top concern. Here are just...
The North Carolina General Assembly is looking to pass legislation during this year’s legislative session that would restrict teachings on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at public schools across the state. During a committee meeting of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees last week, Jim Blaine, former chief of staff to Senate Leader Phil Berger,...
I can’t be the only one who loves a good debate. During election seasons past, I’d get as excited for a big debate as others do for a major sporting event. But there has been a sharp drop in candidates willing to participate in a classic, no-holds-barred verbal rumble. Starting at the top, former-President Donald...
North Carolina Democrats have already lost the first skirmish in the next round of redistricting wars, as a federal judge rejected an urgent call to block new state Senate districts from going into place before the start of candidate filing in early December. US District Judge James Dever labeled the proposed timeline “meritless,” in a scathing...
An appointments bill, which will clear the North Carolina Senate this week, nominates former high-ranking staffers and politicians to various boards and commissions across the state.
Do North Carolina Democrats have any ability anymore to engage in actual lawmaking? Do they even have that desire? North Carolina’s elected Democrats, specifically those in the legislature, appear to be caught flat-footed after the 2022 election. Republicans won all six statewide judicial races, shifting the lean of the N.C. Supreme Court from 4 to...
A tectonic shift in N.C. politics happened this week as Mecklenburg County Democrat state House Rep. Tricia Cotham announced that she was switching parties and becoming a Republican. In other years, this might not be such a huge deal. But with a supermajority in the state Senate for Republicans and a state House that was...
Despite polling showing him down double digits, combined with a historically bad political environment for Democrats, incumbent Supreme Court Justice Sam “Jimmy” Ervin IV filed for re-election on Monday — the first day of candidate filing. Democrat Lucy Inman and Republican Richard Dietz filed to run for the Supreme Court seat now held by Democrat...
Part three of a three-part series outlining an independent analysis of census data. Republicans will have a strong advantage politically in both chambers of the General Assembly for the considerable future. In the second part of our series, we looked at the future of the state senate, which will look different but favor the GOP...
Part one of a three-part series outlining an independent analysis of census data. Two of North Carolina’s most accomplished political consultants have crunched the latest census data and predict Republicans will have a strong political advantage in both chambers of the General Assembly. Note that this is not a Republican/conservative view of how districts can be...
