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 examines higher education ‘earthquake’ out west

    Scott Yenor writes for the Martin Center about major higher education developments in Idaho. Idaho’s state legislature, together with a newly engaged state board and Governor Brad Little, has made an issue of the spiraling higher education costs. Tuition increases have fostered expansions of bureaucracy and mission creep, and…
    Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020
    University buildings with trees

  • Could continued COVID-19 shutdown lead to a ‘mass casualty incident’?

    Tyler Olson writes at FoxNews.com about medical concerns surrounding the preferred government response to COVID-19. More than 600 doctors signed onto a letter sent to President Trump Tuesday pushing him to end the “national shutdown” aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, calling the widespread state orders…
    Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020
    Senior bundled up in chair

  • Florida governor blasts media for terrible COVID-19 coverage

    Andrea Widburg of the American Thinker writes that Florida’s governor has released his “inner Trump.” Florida chose a different lockdown path from the rest of America, protecting old people and letting other Floridians mostly roam free. The media gleefully predicted disaster and have been disappointed that Florida has…
    Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020
    Father and daughter walk along beach

  • Obama team weaponized surveillance to target Trump

    John Daniel Davidson of the Federalist considers the 44th president’s efforts to cripple the 45h president’s administration. The drip-drip-drip of newly declassified documents related to the Trump-Russia investigation, together with recent reports that a classified leak against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn might not have come from…
    Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020
    Barack Obama with Joe Biden in White House

  • COVID-19 and Latin America: Protests could threaten American allies

    Joel Gehrke of the Washington Examiner highlights concerns about COVID-19’s impact south of the border. Latin American governments with close ties to the United States could struggle to weather a storm of political protests as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies, American officials and analysts fear. “If there was a…
    Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020
    Woman wears covid-19 coronavirus mask

  • This weekend on Carolina Journal Radio

    The COVID-19 pandemic has generated new attention for telemedicine. Jordan Roberts shares key insights from his latest research on the topic during the next edition of Carolina Journal Radio. Rick Henderson dissects an audit that contends North Carolina’s Department of Transportation overspent its annual budget by $742…
    Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020
    Microphones in a row

  • New Carolina Journal Online features

    Julie Havlak reports for Carolina Journal Online on the state elections board losing its request to loosen rules for the 2020 elections. John Trump’s Daily Journal focuses on COVID-19’s impact on music festivals and professional musicians.
    Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020
    Featured image thumbnail

  • The Right AOC on Point: Memorial Day reminds us about the cost of freedom

    John Locke Foundation CEO Amy Cooke, “The Right AOC,” explains how Memorial Day reminds us about the human cost of freedom. Contact Amy at [email protected] Follow her at https://www.facebook.com/TheRightAOC and https://twitter.com/TheRightAOC.
    Mitch Kokai, May 21, 2020