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. Dillon, who writes a Substack […]
Democratic leaders aren’t keeping up with the Joneses — or one Jones, specifically — when it comes to fundraising for General Assembly races. House Majority Leader Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, reports that he’s raised $537,080 through mid-February for the 2025-26 election cycle. House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, has raised $236,407 for the election. Senate Democratic […]
With one prominent exception, Monday’s House oversight hearing into Charlotte’s safety situation turned into a bit of a love fest. Appearances from Mecklenburg County DA Spencer Merriweather, Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson and City Manager Marcus Jones came and went with barely a word of criticism. “I think the city is doing […]
Wednesday’s House Oversight hearing also allowed legislators to sound off about a perennial issue within the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, namely the large “achievement gap” between white and black students. This is quickly summarized via Department of Public Instruction student-proficiency statistics. For 2025, these show that 70.3% of the Chapel Hill system’s students tested on […]
Members of a House committee have warned the leaders of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to expect legislative retaliation over their defiance of the 2023 session’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” “You’re going to need state funds, aren’t you?” said Rep. Jeff McNeely, R-Iredell, alluding to the subsidies the General Assembly provides every public K-12 school […]
