Former Attorney General of North Carolina and current Governor Josh Stein has ambitious plans for the next four years. Stein served from 2008-2016 within the North Carolina General Assembly as a state senator representing North Carolina’s 16 Senate district, where State Senator Gale Adcock currently represents part of Cary within North Carolina. He then resigned from the seat in 2016 after successfully gaining the Democratic Nominee for state Attorney’s General he was elected in 2016 with a margin of 0.54 percent and in 2020 he was re-elected with a margin of only 0.26 percent.
As Attorney General of North Carolina, Stein has worked to clear the state’s backlog of untested sexual assault kits the largest in the country. Stein led a bipartisan effort to negotiate a settlement with drug-companies for their role in the opioid crisis, successfully settling for about $50 billion dollars. Stein filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court arguing in favor of the Affordable Care Act. Stein became the first Attorney General in the Country to sue the E-cigarette company Juul and he won multiple suits totalling nearly $48 million. Stein filed briefs supporting medication abortions and opposed restrictions for traveling for women to seek healthcare. He opposed the state’s 12 week abortion ban that was passed in 2023.
Stein won against former Lt. Gov Mark Robinson by a margin of more than 14 percent. Robinson’s platform included political views that are deemed as far right and ultraconservative, and his campaign was harmed by several controversies involving his past behavior. He has since denied these allegations and has filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN because of its role in publishing the story.
Stein’s top priorities for his 2024-2028 term include, creating a safer and stronger North Carolina, helping western Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene, creating economic opportunity for all North Carolinians, investing in public schools and keeping people safe through confronting the fentanyl crisis and recruiting and retaining the best law enforcement officers that the state has.
The Council of State comprises the holders of the ten offices established by Article III of the Constitution of North Carolina. All of them serve as the chief executive of their respective departments. They are elected to four year terms and only the Governor and Lt. Governors have term limits.
Former State Senator Rachel Hunt – who is daughter of previous North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt – is the newly elected Lt. Governor of North Carolina. She was endorsed by former Governor Roy Cooper, running on a platform of increasing funding for public education, increasing healthcare access and assisting small businesses. Hunt worked on passing clean energy legislation that would cut carbon emissions by 70 percent. She also co-sponsored bills to expand medicaid and codify Roe v. Wade.
Elaine Marshall has been the Secretary of State for North Carolina since 1997, and she first won her election to Secretary of State against the Republican challenger and former stock car racer Richard Petty. She ran in the U.S Democratic Party primary race representing North Carolina, and although she did not gain the party’s nomination, she also ran in 2010 this time winning the democratic primary but losing to the Republican candidate and incumbent Senator Richard Burr who received 55 percent of the vote.
State Auditor Dave Boilek won his election against the incumbent State Auditor Jessica Holmes. Boelik earned his MBA and his JD at Campbell University, after which he was elected to the Board of Trustees for UNC in 2019 and reelected in 2023. As a former prosecutor, Boilek aims to root out government corruption. As a member of the Board of Trustees he balanced the budget, and eliminated the university’s operating deficit. Boilek is also a strong opponent of “woke diversity and equity policies” across the university.
State Treasurer Brad Briner won his primary election against former North Carolina Education Lottery Commissioner A.J. Daoud. Briner also beat former State Representative Wesley Harris. The state treasurer has three main jobs: invest the state’s retirement fund for our state employees and retirees, administer the State Health Plan and protect the state’s Triple A credit rating.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green won against Michele Morrow by a margin of 2.2 percent. He graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics as well as earning a JD from the same institution. Green served as the Superintendent of Guilford County Schools for seven years, and is committed to ensuring that all students have access to a high quality education.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson won against his opponent Dan Bishop. He was deployed to Afghanistan following these attacks. Jackson served in the State Senate and ran for the Democratic nomination for the 2022 U.S. Senate, Jackson suspended his race and endorsed Cheri Beasley. Jackson ran for the U.S house and won both the party’s primary and the general election. While in the House Jackson used his social media accounts that have amassed more than two million followers to educate followers on both current events and legislation within Congress. Jackson’s priorities include: being a non-partisan and independent voice, tackling the fentanyl epidemic, defending constitutional rights and supporting law enforcement.
Steve Troxler has been the Commissioner of Agriculture since 2005, beating Dr. Sarah Taber the Democratic Nominee for the Commissioner of Agriculture by eight percent. Prior to becoming the Commissioner of Agriculture, Troxler earned a bachelor’s degree in conservation at North Carolina State University. After graduation, Troxler purchased farmland in Browns Summit and primarily grew tobacco and over time moved to wheat and produce. Troxler was a member of the Democratic Party but left citing hostilities toward tobacco production. Troxler has focused on developing new markets for North Carolina farms, preserving working farms and protecting the state’s food supply.
Commissioner of Labor Luke Farley was endorsed by former Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. Farley has spent over 14 years as a workplace safety attorney, he has kept workers safe, helped small businesses create more and better paying jobs. Farley wants to fill open workplace safety inspector jobs as 25 percent of these jobs are unfilled. He also wants to increase the pay by at least 10 percent across the board to make these jobs more attractive to North Carolinians. Another policy he implemented was cutting wait times for education programs as right now the average wait time for voluntary safety visits is 95 days. Farley wants to change this to make it to no more than 45 days. In addition to this he wants to recognize when business exceeds expectations.
Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey started working in the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Causey sought Commissioner of Insurance in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2012 yet lost those races in the general election. He also ran unsuccessfully in the Republican Party primary election for the U.S. House of Representatives. Causey has been North Carolina’s Commissioner of Insurance since 2017. Causey cooperated with the FBI in the investigation of political corruption charges related to Greg Lindberg. He was a construction manager, surveyor and has spent 25 years in the insurance business. Causey has a record of targeting fraud and abuse in the insurance market. Causey also wants to improve response rates for all of the state’s fire departments, make roads safer and keep holding the health insurance industry accountable as often patients are denied medication and procedures that they need.
In 2028, all of these positions will be up for election again. The Council of State is in charge of all these departments thus creating the North Carolina that both the voters want. This also makes their jobs rather hard as they need to satisfy all of their constituents. Stein and his team are committed to working on these new developments and responding to future ones.
