The North Carolina General Assembly has seen a number of bills being introduced ranging from education policy to governmental powers. This week, North Carolina Republican Senators in the Rules Committee moved along legislation that: prohibits phones from being on during classroom instruction, requires state officials to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and restricts the state’s Attorney General from taking legal action against the executive orders of President Donald Trump.

Taking a cue from President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina are beginning to probe state agencies. 

Republicans have been in full control of state government spending in North Carolina for the last 14 years. However, the allegations of fraud and waste made by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, have grabbed the attention of conservative politicians.

Despite his claims of independence, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has emerged as a reliable MAGA supporter in Congress. Tillis voted in favor of all of President Trump’s most controversial nominees, including vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and pro-Putin National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard.  

But the most telling vote involved Tillis’ decision to confirm Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has an extensive list of misconduct allegations as well as a history of troubling comments reflecting his opposition to women serving in the military.

Less than a month into the 2025 session, North Carolina lawmakers have introduced nearly 300 bills, with hundreds more expected before next month’s filing deadline. However, given the state’s divided government, not all proposals will survive the legislative process.  

Following the 2024 election, Republicans fell just one seat short of a supermajority, meaning Democratic Gov. Josh Stein has the power to veto many GOP-backed bills. Despite this dynamic, several key proposals are gaining attention.

This time, the NC GOP is targeting Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who has recently defended the state from the White House’s federal funding freeze, Elon Musk’s national data breach, and Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship. 

Senate Bill 58, proposed earlier this month, would prohibit the attorney general from making any legal argument that would invalidate an executive order issued by Trump.

Two voters will make their case that Republicans illegally split Black communities in Eastern North Carolina among several electoral districts — effectively diluting their voting power. Courts have previously ruled that racial gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution because it amounts to a discriminatory voting practice.

Robinson’s bid for North Carolina governor ended in November when he lost to now-Gov. Josh Stein by nearly 15 points; it was the biggest landslide in a governor’s race in the state since 1980. Following his defeat, speculation swirled about a potential run for the U.S. Senate in 2026 or chair of the state Republican Party. His announcement puts an end to those rumors and likely came as a relief to state Republicans.  

During the first week of his second term as President, Donald Trump hinted at cutting back the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during a visit to North Carolina to survey the damage from Hurricane Helene that devastated the western part of the state in September of last year. 

Judge Jefferson Griffin’s effort to toss out 65,000 ballots is impacting North Carolina voters across the board, including Republicans. In a new political ad, one Republican-led group is pushing back against Griffin’s attempt to overturn election results.

Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and State Auditor Dave Boliek, both of whom are newly elected Republicans, announced that they had directed their North Carolina agencies to remove all internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies. 

Of the myriad questionable picks Donald Trump has made for his cabinet nominations, few are as worthy of intense scrutiny as Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense. 

 Ahead of arguments in the federal appeals court Monday, Democrats and impacted voters held a press conference to condemn Judge Jefferson Griffin’s efforts to erase 65,500 ballots more than 80 days after the election.

Over 400 doctors from North Carolina have joined a national effort urging U.S. senators to reject the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Kennedy for the role in November, following Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump after ending his 2024 presidential campaign.

Bajo la administración de Donald Trump, las políticas migratorias se endurecieron significativamente, afectando a miles de inmigrantes, especialmente a aquellos sin estatus legal. 

On Thursday evening, pro-democracy advocates hosted a virtual town hall to inform North Carolinians about Judge Jefferson Griffin’s ballot challenge case and hear from voters impacted by the egregious attempt to throw out over 60,000 ballots.

Trump took 46 executive actions during his first day back in the White House. Here’s how some of those policy changes could impact North Carolina moving forward. 

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein didn’t get the pomp and circumstance normally reserved for a new governor because an impending winter storm canceled most of the planned events — but that didn’t stop Stein from laying out his vision for the future to North Carolinians.

One of the Southeast’s largest farms, based in Nash County and owned by the family of Republican state Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes, has been put into receivership after defaulting on more than $40 million in loans.

In this uncertain period, the flood of information online is overwhelming. Whether you’re keeping up with the latest recount updates or simply trying to make sense of the post-election landscape, media literacy is essential.

After being rejected by North Carolina’s voters, some of the state’s most prominent and extreme Republicans are now searching for new jobs and they’re setting

The policy implications of Trump’s presidency set up painful social consequences of polarization, betrayal, and mass horror. Political polarization has been consistently high since Trump’s first term.

State Sen. Michael Lee, who has no medical background or knowledge, has used his vote seven times to tell women that what they do with their bodies is his decision and not theirs. Candidate Dr. David Hill will stand up for a woman’s right to choose.

Republican Mike Schietzelt, a 37-year-old married father of four who served in the U.S. Marine Corps as part of the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and currently works as a litigation attorney at a Raleigh law firm. Voters should be cautious about buying into what Schietzelt (pronounced Sheet-zelt) is selling. It’s easy to be fooled when reading what he thinks about providing more funding for our public schools or supporting efforts to keep our air and water clean. Once you scratch below the surface and look deeper into his background, the picture of who he is as a candidate becomes clearer – and it’s not pretty.

Ken Fontenot is not a household name in North Carolina. Still, for the people who live in House District 24 – which covers all of Wilson County, plus a small section of Nash County – it’s a name they should familiarize themselves with.

For those familiar with Tricia Cotham, Frank Sossamon’s story might sound similar. Sossamon, a reliable Democratic primary voter for over two decades, abruptly changed his party registration to Republican after 2020. He then ran for a seat in the State House as a Republican, won, and has been a reliable vote for the party’s far-right policy priorities ever since.

Michele Morrow has been making headlines after a video resurfaced showing her calling for former President Donald Trump to use military force to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.

One of the far-right Republican legislators up for reelection is Rep. Allen Chesser, who has represented the 25th district in the North Carolina House since 2022. While endorsing Chesser, Destin Hall, the House member presumed to become the next Speaker of the House, stated that Chesser’s reelection is “vital in ensuring we are able to keep our super majority in the next election”

First-term state House Rep. Ken Fontenot (R-Wilson) shares the same views as Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson when it comes to abortion and education. And it turns out that he has something else in common with Robinson – they both seem to be “not very good at math” and confused about what purchases they’re legally allowed to make using campaign contributions.

A lawsuit filed by former Rockingham County Commissioner Craig Travis claims that a dark money political group, along with the Berger family, ended his political career as retribution for not supporting a plan to build a Stokesdale casino.

Significant changes to North Carolina’s election rules were introduced recently in a state Senate committee.

The two candidates running to be the next attorney general of North Carolina are white male lawyers from the Charlotte area who currently serve in the U.S. House of Representatives – and that’s pretty much where the similarities end.

North Carolina’s political maps, gerrymandered in Republicans’ favor to an extreme degree, were back in court earlier this month as GOP state lawmakers sought to have a lawsuit thrown out because, as they argued, voters have no right to fair elections.

With the stated objective of fighting against the extreme right-wing Project 2025 agenda for a second Donald Trump presidency, a group of U.S. House Democrats has come together to launch a task force to stop the plan from taking hold should the twice-impeached convicted felon win November’s election.

Governor Roy Cooper has vowed to use his last year in office to continue making North Carolina a safer place to live.

Earlier this month, Democrats in the North Carolina General Assembly introduced House Bill 1075 and Senate Bill 911 that would amend the state constitution to guarantee the right to access public records and meetings. The proposal is a direct challenge to a provision Republican lawmakers added to last year’s state budget that allows them to hide legislative records from public scrutiny.

North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is no stranger to posting hateful anti-LGBTQ+ content on social media, but more highly offensive posts written by him have recently been uncovered by The Advocate.

The North Carolina Republican Party and its two Republican members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) are up in arms after the board approved counties’ early voting plans three months earlier than usual, NC Newsline reported.

Four years ago, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bipartisan law to direct state officials to develop a process so that criminal charges that are dismissed or result in “not guilty” or “not responsible” findings are deleted from a person’s record without the need for a formal request.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has joined a lawsuit accusing Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster of illegally monopolizing the live entertainment industry, particularly ticketing services for concerts.

The Nash County farm owned by the husband of Republican North Carolina State Sen. Lisa Barnes is facing nearly $190,000 in fines from the NC Department of Labor after an investigation found Barnes Farming committed multiple violations that played a role in the heat-related death of a migrant worker from Mexico last year, WFAE reported.

House Bill 2, better known as HB2 or the “bathroom bill,” is back in the news in North Carolina, and could be back in the law books if Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson wins the gubernatorial race in November, according to a speech he made in May.

A group of faith leaders gathered at Reeder Memorial Baptist Church in Charlotte for a campaign event for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein.

Across the state of North Carolina there are around 5.000 child care centers serving over 200,000 children. With fewer companies offering remote work, leaving scores of individuals returning to office, and a growing population in the state, the importance of childcare is obvious to many. However, many childcare centers in the state are at risk of closing their doors, permanently. 

The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group that fights for fair legislative maps, and Planned Parenthood Votes, the health care organization’s political arm, are teaming up to invest in state supreme court races in North Carolina as well as Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Texas. The groups plan to spend $5 million across the states to fund digital ads, canvassing operations, and get-out-the-vote efforts, they announced earlier this month.

There are few better names for a TV meteorologist than Hal Weatherman. Unfortunately, for North Carolinians, this Weatherman won’t be providing the seven-day forecast because he is a right-wing extremist politician who could be our state’s next lieutenant governor.

Republicans in the North Carolina Senate have once again passed a bill that will take away North Carolinians’ freedoms, this time passing a ban on anyone wearing masks in public – even for health reasons.

North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby won’t explain why he replaced Mecklenburg County’s top district court judge, Elizabeth Trosch. Newby chose to designate District Court Judge Roy Wiggins as chief, removing Trosch from the position she held for four years.

Earlier this month, a group of Jewish, Muslim and Christian activists gathered outside the North Carolina General Assembly to protest a bill that would codify a controversial definition of antisemitism into law.

North Carolinians from around the state gathered in front of the General Assembly on April 30 for the annual Second Chance Lobby Day to draw attention to the hurdles that previously incarcerated people can face when trying to re-enter society.

The North Carolina General Assembly’s short session officially began on April 24, with big budget ticket issues at the top of mind.

North Carolina U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, an election-denying, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-reproductive rights, pro-insurrection right-wing Republican is the NCGOP’s nominee to be North Carolina’s next attorney general, and a win would likely result in new, more serious attacks on our voting rights.

On April 23, 2024 a North Carolina man was sentenced to 6 years of prison for assaulting police officers during the January 6th Capitol riot.

On April 24, the North Carolina General Assembly returned from a six-month break to begin an impactful legislative session. 

As the gubernatorial race heats up, a new poll shows where North Carolina voters stand months ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

Documents obtained by NC Newsline and The News & Observer reveal issues surrounding a nonprofit operated by Yolanda Hill, the wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.

Advocates for North Carolina’s immigrant community gathered this Tax Day to tout the contributions immigrants make to the economy and warn against a bill Republicans are trying once again to pass this legislative session. 

North Carolina officials have teamed up with the federal government to hold airlines accountable for their misconduct.

Less than two months after the primary, groups across the state have turned their attention to the November general election.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson seems to dislike a lot of things – the LGBTQ+ community, powerful women, Black people, public schools, Jewish and Muslim people, a woman’s right to choose, and paying his taxes – but if there’s one thing he does seem to like, it’s expressing his belief that beating children is “a form of love.”

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore and a pair of top Republican donors are lining up behind Michele Morrow, despite her long history of deeply troubling statements – including one calling for the televised execution of President Barack Obama.

At a time when women’s freedoms are under attack, the Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has nothing to offer except hate, belittlement and degrading politics.  

In the 2022 midterm election cycle, young voters turned out in historic numbers and helped Democrats stave off the Republican red wave. For 2024, Democrats are hoping youth voters can deliver once again, as elections across the country have highly competitive races. 

North Carolinians know how important their votes are when it comes to presidential elections because North Carolina is one of the most important battleground states in the nation.

North Carolina is perhaps the most important battleground state in this November’s election and if President Joe Biden wins here, it makes it nearly impossible for Donald Trump to win without upset victories in traditionally blue or blue-leaning states.

North Carolina’s governor race is becoming the most watched in the country. A recent poll from Quinnipiac University shows Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, at 52% among registered voters and Republican Mark Robinson, who serves as lieutenant governor, behind with 44%.

With the presidential election less than seven months away, President Joe Biden’s campaign is picking up steam in North Carolina as his team here recently announced the opening of 10 new field offices in the state, Axios reported.

The wife of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is facing scrutiny after suddenly announcing the closing of her controversial nonprofit, likely at the end of April, The Assembly reported.

The Raleigh-based right-wing think tank John Locke Foundation recently released a short film about the 1898 Wilmington massacre that focuses on a “fast-paced love story” between a white couple, and not on the mass murder of the city’s Black residents

No one would have blamed you for looking at the muddy grass, cracked blacktop, rusty playground equipment, and the two spots where basketball hoops stood more than 20 years ago at Granville Street Park in Oxford, and thinking to yourself, “This park has seen better days.”

At this point, it’s not surprising when Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have another election law, redistricting, or voting rights lawsuit filed against them, but the latest one is a bit unique.

One of the top storylines in every presidential election since President Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 has been, “Will North Carolina go blue again this time?” The answer has been “No” every time, but this year could be different – at least according to a recent national model forecast.

North Carolina is increasingly becoming ground zero for the counter-majoritarian movement designed to “lock in political minority rule and slow the nation’s progress,” according to a new report from the Center for American Progress.

Last week, North Carolina Democrats introduced a bill in Congress that would require transparency in the redistricting process.

Republicans in Rockingham County and the state party were left reeling last week after county and State Board of Elections officials cleared a neo-Nazi with a history of felony convictions to run for state House despite late attempts by the GOP to have the candidate removed, The News & Observer reported.

North Carolina experienced a dramatic rise in mass shootings in 2023, with 33 incidents shattering past records.

Next month, the North Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear whether the state must pay nearly $700 million to fund long-awaited public school investments, as ordered by a trial court.

It’s been nearly three years since government accountability advocate Bob Hall filed a complaint with the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) over several possible irregularities in Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign finance reports and the public has still yet to receive any answers.

North Carolina’s disenfranchisement laws, which bar individuals convicted of felonies from voting until certain conditions are met and make it a serious crime for someone to vote while still on probation or parole for a felony conviction, continue to cast a long shadow over the state’s political landscape.

Terrence Meyers has been helping run elections in one way or another since 1987, first in his native Maryland and, since 2018, in Chowan County, according to The Daily Advance.

For years, North Carolina voting rights groups, advocates, and voters have fought back against state Republican’s voter suppression efforts. In their latest attempt, Republicans passed a controversial elections law that could prevent many North Carolinians from exercising their right to vote. 

In the lead-up to North Carolina’s 2024 gubernatorial primary election, a stark divide between the Democratic and Republican candidates on their views of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol remains evident.

More eligible North Carolinians will have access to the ballot box this year, as the State Board of Elections added to the list of approved student and employee IDs that can be used to vote in the upcoming election.

For perhaps the first time, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson aimed his hate and vitriol at his fellow Republicans. It happened while speaking in a church at a Davie County GOP Christmas event earlier this month, WRAL reported.

Undeterred by the more than 90 criminal charges twice-impeached former President Donald Trump is currently facing in multiple jurisdictions for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is sticking by his man and supporting Trump’s theories.

Gov. Roy Cooper was recently handed a temporary win in court by a majority-Republican three-judge panel over his request to block a new elections law, SB 749, before voters head to the polls in 2024, WRAL reported.

State Representative Tricia Cotham, who in April gave Republicans a supermajority in the legislature by switching parties from Democrat to Republican, will run for reelection next fall in the newly redrawn House District 105 in southern Mecklenburg County.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has now returned from his trip to Israel, a visit that he made in an attempt to show that he’s not antisemitic – despite all the evidence showing that he is antisemitic.

MAGA extremist, trust fund kid and former NC State football player Bo Hines, who lost last year in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District race, moved across the state to run in the Republican primary for the U.S. House again next year, Axios reported.

While appearing in the pulpit of a Winston-Salem church earlier this month, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson told worshippers his thoughts on peaceful protests in Durham and also announced a political trip to Israel, CBS 17 reported.

It took less than 30 minutes from the time North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore announced his run for Congress to when the first attack was made against his campaign – and it came from within his party, according to The News & Observer.

A Cabarrus County Commissioner announced in October that he was quitting the North Carolina Republican Party and changing his affiliation to unaffiliated due to the party’s thirst for power and nothing else, he said in a video, The Charlotte Observer reported.

Former police chiefs in two states, including North Carolina, are facing federal charges in Maryland in connection with a conspiracy to illegally obtain machine guns and other firearms, Maryland Matters reported.

North Carolina Republicans last week passed into law their latest congressional and state voting maps – maps that are so extremely gerrymandered that it’s likely they’re illegal.

As a recent News & Observer editorial highlights, Republicans have relied on a strategic plan to dismantle democracy for decades. In North Carolina, Republicans have worked endlessly to disenfranchise voters across the state, with one judge ruling that an NCGOP voter ID law targeted “African-Americans with almost surgical precision” — making it harder for Black North Carolinians to vote. 

If you know the kind of man Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is then you know that he is a conspiracy theorist who believes women can’t be leaders and has concluded that “we are called to be led by men.” What you might not know is just the extent of his clear disdain for women.

Gov. Roy Cooper is suing Republican legislative leaders over changes made to the State Board of Elections (NCSBE) and county boards of elections after Republicans overrode his veto of Senate Bill 749.

At least four lawsuits challenging North Carolina Republican-backed laws aimed at changing election rules in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election have now been filed.

Republican North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell hit out at the Republican-controlled General Assembly after they passed a budget that included a provision restricting access to public records, NC Newsline reported.

Robinson’s antisemitism isn’t some big secret – he’s openly spread hate about Jewish people on his social media pages dating back more than five years ago, as well as through speeches and interviews.

As we inch closer to 2024, North Carolina is emerging as a key battleground for the upcoming elections. With an ever-changing demographic, and the possibility of another round of Republican-leaning congressional maps, North Carolina has become one of the most competitive battleground states. 

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has admitted to making a “mistake” and violating a state law regarding ethics and disclosures, an investigation by WBTV has revealed.

Public hearings on redistricting came and went in the span of three days in three different parts of the state during the last week of September. If you blinked, you missed it – and that’s the way Republican lawmakers like it.

Voters across the state are voicing their concern over Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s long history of disturbing comments regarding guns and mass shootings.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s 2024 gubernatorial campaign team has been able to prevent Robinson from showing up and stumbling through primary debates, but they weren’t able to prevent him from using a pro-Bidenomics company to try and attack the president and Democrats, the American Independent reported.

Since 2016, North Carolina Republicans have continued efforts to change the rules in their favor and undermine gubernatorial authority, with the latest state budget adding to the list. 

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has officially vetoed two dangerous bills that were passed by Republican supermajorities in the legislature and focused on making it harder to vote and taking away powers from the governor.

North Carolina Republican leaders are gearing up to gerrymander the state’s congressional and legislative voting maps in their favor as they turn their focus from delaying the budget toward redistricting.

On the same day North Carolina Republicans finally approved a state budget (after delaying it for 80+ days), they also passed legislation that strips authority from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

Included within the $30 billion North Carolina state budget, which has now become law, is a provision allowing lawmakers to exempt themselves from the state’s public records law and keep their own records secret.

Many political experts predicted a red wave throughout the 2022 midterm election cycle, however, youth voters delivered for democracy; blocking numerous Republicans wins.

Nearly a month after asking the Wake County District Attorney to investigate Republican House Speaker Tim Moore for possible corruption charges, Rep. Terence Everitt (D-Wake) learned that Moore had moved his office to a basement supply closet, The News & Observer reported.

As if Senate leader Phil Berger’s push to repay his casino buddies for lining his pockets with campaign cash over the past few years by tying casino legalization to Medicaid expansion didn’t blow up in his face badly enough on its own, a new poll shows that he’s now at risk of losing his primary race next year, CBS 17 reported.

A new report by the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) rates North Carolina at “moderate risk” of election denialism jeopardizing future elections

The 2024 gubernatorial race is in full swing in North Carolina and finding himself millions of dollars behind his likely Democratic opponent in fundraising, Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson held a VIP fundraiser last weekend where he raffled off multiple guns.

As much as Republicans in the North Carolina legislature hope that you can’t (or won’t) vote due to all of the restrictions and barriers they have put in place – such as voter ID – it’s possible to make your voting experience smooth and easy.