The North Carolinian

When you think about the kind of candidates that get state Democrats excited this year, you might not think of a woman who once received unemployment benefits, was once arrested, and was once a Republican. But that’s Jen Ferrell, the now-Democratic challenger of a long-serving Republican member of the state House. Democrats hope she can flip that seat and thus help end the GOP supermajority.

Jane Campbell is a retired Navy captain and unaffiliated candidate for NC House. She's also openly gay. After learning her state representative was an architect of HB2 and running unopposed for reelection, she decided to do something about it. UPDATE 10/5/16 If elected, Jane Campbell would be the only openly LGBTQ member of the NC House next year. Rep. Chris Sgro, a current openly LGBTQ lawmaker, was appointed to his seat and is not seeking election. Former openly LGBTQ state lawmakers...

24 years after her first campaign, Patsy Keever chairs North Carolina’s Democratic Party for what she implies is her last election in an official role. Keever says it’s time for a new generation of leaders to take over. Before leaving, all she has to do is help her party win one of the most important, divisive, and insane elections of all time.

It’s almost Election Day! Here in North Carolina, court rulings have reshaped our voting rules. Listen to this episode to get smart about 2016. You can find both a video and written version of this episode, along with links to resources, at JamesKotecki.com/TheNorthCarolinian

Bob Edmunds is an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court currently running for this third eight-year term. This episode is the counterpoint to our recent conversation with Mike Morgan, the Superior Court Judge vying for Edmunds’ seat. As you might expect, Edmunds offers some dissenting opinions. Edmunds rejects the notion that his campaign or the court itself are partisan entities. But can he - can anyone - really stay above partisan politics while running a campaign?

2016 is the year of political impossibilities. Among them: Democrats could actually take back the US House. If they do - and it’s still a big if - candidates like Thomas Mills will be riding the crest of the wave. A political consultant and blogger, Mills filed to run in NC’s 8th district at the last minute when no other Democrat stepped up. At first, his goal was to deny the Republican incumbent a free pass. Then he realized he could actually win.

Overwhelmed by the media’s obsession with polls? Curious about the long-term trends shaping our state and our country? Wondering why presidential candidate “Deez Nuts” once polled at 9% in North Carolina? Tom Jensen, the Director of Public Policy Polling, is here to help sort things out.

Finance attorney Chaz Beasley is one of a handful of Millennial Democrats running for the General Assembly this year. His Mecklenburg County race against Republican incumbent Charles Jeter was one of the most competitive in the state - that is, until Jeter unexpectedly resigned his seat and ended his campaign. Beasley’s new opponent is off to a late start, and it seems more likely we’ll have a new Millennial on Jones Street. But what does that really mean?

North Carolina’s Supreme Court races are technically non-partisan, but nobody’s fooling anybody: the current court is divided 4-3 in favor of Republicans. Judge Mike Morgan is running against one of the incumbent Republicans and could flip the Supreme Court's balance of power. If you care about things like HB2, taxes, housing, the environment, crime, and our system of government itself, you should really care who sits on the bench. Morgan also has a powerful personal story. In 1964, he was...

He wants to fight North Carolina’s most contentious legal battles. He doesn’t mind when his opponent calls HB2 “Buck’s Bill.” But for Senator Buck Newton, the key issue in his race for attorney general is whether the job gets done at all. And yes - we also talk about his infamous exhortation to “keep our state straight.”

Durham City Councilwoman Jillian Johnson sparked controversy this summer when she wrote on Facebook that “the most dangerous people with guns are cops and soldiers.” Can a fiercely progressive, community-organizing “radical nerd” change the system from the inside without compromising who she is?