Mitch Kokai

Senior Political Analyst
Mitch Kokai is senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation. He joined JLF in December 2005 as director of communications. That followed more than four years as chief state government reporter for News 14 Carolina, now known as Spectrum News. The job included extensive coverage of the General Assembly for the 24-hour local regional television news channel.

Before News 14 Carolina, Kokai worked as a radio news reporter for seven years. He started a radio news department at WENC-AM in Whiteville, then led Chapel Hill’s award-winning radio news team at WCHL-AM. He spent two-and-one-half years as news director and assignment editor for Raleigh’s WPTF-AM.

Mitch is a Columbus, Ohio, native, and a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate. He has lived in North Carolina since 1989.

Posts by Mitch Kokai (page 1)

  • Martin Center column explores ‘appalling’ Smith College case

    Lee Trepanier writes for the Martin Center about a disturbing set of events at an elite college. An unfolding case at Smith College shows how the obsession with race can blind administrators to facts and lead them to act in ways that harm innocent people. In 2018, Oumou Kanoute,…
    Mitch Kokai, April 16, 2021
    University buildings with trees

  • Mike Rowe knows why a higher minimum wage means bad news

    Margot Cleveland of the Federalist focuses on one high-profile critic of raising the government-mandated minimum wage. I worked a “dirty job.” On my 14th birthday, I cleaned toilets, for the then-minimum wage of $3.35. That’s how I know Mike Rowe is right about them. Over the weekend, while…
    Mitch Kokai, April 16, 2021
    Bricklayer does manual labor under bright sky

  • New national commission would focus on balancing federal budget

    Nihal Krishan of the Washington Examiner highlights a new proposal from Republicans on Capitol Hill. Senate Republicans will introduce legislation … to create a new bipartisan national commission to reduce the deficit and balance the federal budget within 10 years. Republicans are concerned about runaway government spending and…
    Mitch Kokai, April 16, 2021
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  • N.C. teacher attracts national attention for downplaying Holocaust

    Alex Nester of the Washington Free Beacon documents a disturbing incident from a public school classroom in the Tar Heel State. A North Carolina teacher’s lesson on slavery included a discussion question that downplayed the Holocaust and likened 19th-century Americans to Nazis. Ardrey Kell High School English teacher…
    Mitch Kokai, April 16, 2021
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  • National Review pans new corporate nothing burger

    Editors at National Review Online tackle corporate America’s “empty” virtue signaling linked to the Georgia election law. A major gathering on Saturday of management from over a hundred businesses, many of them enormous corporations, reportedly discussed imposing collective sanctions on Georgia — a plan that might at least…
    Mitch Kokai, April 16, 2021
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  • Democratic activists target activist Democratic justice

    John McCormack explains at National Review Online that one particular U.S. Supreme Curt justice is attracting attention from the political left. Politico reports that Democratic activists are ramping up pressure on liberal 82-year-old Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer to retire while Democrats control the Senate. The campaign from…
    Mitch Kokai, April 16, 2021
    United States Supreme Court

  • New Carolina Journal Online features

    David Bass reports for Carolina Journal Online on how remote-only learning has hurt N.C. special-needs students. Joshua Peters’ CJ Opinion ponders trans participation in girls’ sports.
    Mitch Kokai, April 16, 2021
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  • The Right AOC on Point: Bill would protect your right to anonymous political speech and association

    John Locke Foundation CEO Amy Cooke, “The Right AOC,” touts potential benefits of Senate Bill 636. It would protect your right to anonymous political speech and association. Contact Amy at [email protected] Follow her at https://www.facebook.com/TheRightAOC and https://twitter.com/TheRightAOC.
    Mitch Kokai, April 15, 2021
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