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Elections

Trio of swing-seat House Republicans trail in fundraising

Republican incumbents in a trio of key, near-toss-up N.C. House districts trailed their challengers in fundraising through June, according to their campaign-finance filings with the State Board of Elections. The biggest gap was in District 74, the Clemmons/Lewisville area of western Forsyth County. Incumbent Rep. Jeff Zenger has raised $286,365....

By Ray Gronberg

August 27, 2026

Stein vetoes judges’ bill

Gov. Josh Stein has vetoed House Bill 377, siding with House Democratic Leader Robert Reives and other critics who oppose a provision that would allow judges to be suspended without pay. The power is one “no other [state supreme court] chief justice in the country has,” Stein says in his...

By Ray Gronberg

August 20, 2026

Hall reports raising $1.9M for 2026 elections

Outgoing Senate leader Phil Berger is still the General Assembly’s champion fundraiser, but House Speaker Destin Hall is shaping up as a potential inheritor of the mantle. Berger’s campaign committee reported taking in $3.1 million through the end of June, for the cycle that saw that saw the Rockingham County...

By Ray Gronberg

July 28, 2026

Boliek reports on off-year election costs

Taxpayers in most of the state shouldered $8.4 million in costs for 2025’s off-year city and town elections, State Auditor Dave Boliek says in a report that cites wide disparities in the per-vote cost of the voting. The 2025 vote saw jurisdictions in 91 of North Carolina’s 100 counties go...

By Ray Gronberg

July 28, 2026

Lee top fundraiser among would-be Bergers

The four men most often mentioned as potential successors to Phil Berger as the next Senate president pro tem between them have raised $2.7 million so far this election cycle. Senate Majority Leader Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, has raised just under $1.3 million. He occupies a known, R+1 swing seat...

By Ray Gronberg

July 28, 2026

Page sues a Berger

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page has sued one of Senate leader Phil Berger’s sons, alleging that he and the county government improperly retaliated against him for running against the elder Berger. Page’s federal-court lawsuit against Rockingham County Commission Kevin Berger, and the county government, contends the alleged retaliation also concerned...

By Ray Gronberg

July 6, 2026

Cohn back in race; Kiger replaces Stevens

Rep. Bryan Cohn, D-Granville, is back on the campaign trail after party leaders in Granville and Vance counties picked him to replace a candidate for the District 32 House seat who backed out of the race for health reasons. Cohn had intended to step down at the end of the...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

SEIU role in Charlotte council race draws criticism

An anti-union Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group is asking federal officials to study whether the Service Employees International Union violated laws in helping oust a Charlotte City Council candidate last year in an election decided by 34 votes. For years, the SEIU has urged the Charlotte council to pressure American Airlines...

By Ray Gronberg

June 29, 2026

AI video targets Barnes-Gailliard race

An AI-generated video that’s making the rounds on social media depicts a state Senate candidate and prominent Rocky Mount pastor, James Gailliard, as a literal tool of Satan. By contrast, it portrays the Republican incumbent in the District 11 Senate race, Lisa Barnes, in beatific terms as someone blessed and...

By Ray Gronberg

June 23, 2026

The (bleep) word

Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, posted a two-minute Instagram video this week that included about a dozen bleeped profanities directed at the state’s Republican leadership. Batch made the video with Rep. Vernetta Alston, D-Durham. Alston doesn’t use profanity in the video, which was first reported by Raleigh journalist A.P....

By Ray Gronberg

June 19, 2026

Granville-Vance House candidate steps aside

Democrats in Granville and Vance counties need to find themselves a new candidate for the House District 32 seat. The previous nominee, Oxford City Commissioner Curtis McRae, is withdrawing from the race “due to personal health matters requiring his full attention,” the House Democratic Caucus says. McRae  — who’s also...

By Ray Gronberg

June 8, 2026

Wake Forest commissioner tabbed for Senate seat

Democratic Party leaders in Wake and Granville counties have named lawyer and Wake Forest Town Commissioner Haseeb Fatmi as the replacement for former state Sen. Terence Everitt. The decision comes about two weeks after Everitt announced his unexpected, post-primary resignation from the District 18 seat. The district covers northern Wake...

By Ray Gronberg

May 18, 2026

Cohn’s hat in the ring for Everitt Senate seat

State Rep. Bryan Cohn, D-Granville, says he’s signaled to the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate that he’s willing to step in as a replacement for former Sen. Terence Everitt. “We’ve got the donors, the infrastructure [and] the network,” Cohn says. Everitt, D-Wake, announced Tuesday evening, on Facebook, that...

By Ray Gronberg

May 1, 2026

Majeed goes unaffiliated

Another Mecklenburg County legislator who lost in March’s Democratic Party primaries has turned in his membership card. District 99 Rep. Nasif Majeed announced via social media that he’s changing his affiliation from Democratic to unaffiliated. Majeed — an 80-year-old who piloted B-52s during the Vietnam War — said his move...

By Ray Gronberg

April 28, 2026

Legislators to probe COVID-related prison releases

Just in time for this fall’s Cooper-Whatley U.S. Senate race, General Assembly leaders announced Monday they’re forming a panel to investigate COVID-related early prison releases. Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, and House Majority Leader Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, will co-chair the probe, House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger say....

By Ray Gronberg

April 22, 2026

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