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)

  • Shocker! Journalist’s ‘fact-checking’ effort misleads the reader

    Christopher Jacobs of the Federalist checks “facts” employed in one of those dubious “fact-checking” exercises media outlets have come to love. Who will fact check the fact checkers? That question reared its head again late last week, as a reporter from Politico attempted to add “context” to health-care-related…
    Mitch Kokai, September 25, 2018

  • Trump, trade, and China

    Editors at the Washington Examiner take President Trump to task for his actions regarding trade and China. With tariffs and tweets, President Trump eggs on a trade war between China and America. With no trade talks on the horizon, relations are unlikely to improve soon. That seems to…
    Mitch Kokai, September 25, 2018

  • Big Labor betting big on Dems

    Bill McMorris of the Washington Free Beacon reports on labor groups’ role in bankrolling Democrats’ election campaigns. Big Labor is dropping big money on the 2018 elections despite their own rhetoric about outside spending. Unions represent 12 of the top 25 largest outside spending organizations in the 2018…
    Mitch Kokai, September 25, 2018

  • A critique of Woodward

    John O’Connor writes for the Daily Caller about the flaws in celebrated investigative journalist Bob Woodward’s work. In the wake of his bestselling book, “Fear: Trump in the White House,” much has been written questioning the accuracy of Bob Woodward’s past reporting, including his celebrated Watergate journalism. This…
    Mitch Kokai, September 25, 2018

  • A review of Rosenstein’s resistance

    Andrew McCarthy of National Review Online assesses top Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein’s actions in opposition to President Trump. For years, Rosenstein had carefully tended to his reputation as an apolitical lawman, beloved of both parties. At a time when Trump nominees for top executive offices were extraordinarily…
    Mitch Kokai, September 25, 2018
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  • New Carolina Journal Online features

    Julie Havlak reports for Carolina Journal Online that tariffs and trade battles could increase the price tag for North Carolina as it rebuilds from Hurricane Florence. The Daily Journal explains that North Carolina’s leaders have rejected a political philosophy that calls for tax hikes during times of natural…
    Mitch Kokai, September 25, 2018

  • Martin Center examines N.C. colleges’ free-speech protections

    Chris West writes for the Martin Center about a new report examining N.C. colleges’ protection of free speech on campuses. Universities receiving a green-light rating offer sufficient First Amendment protections to students, whereas receiving a yellow-light rating means that the university has a few troubling policies, but provides some…
    Mitch Kokai, September 24, 2018
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  • Schiff among those offering doom-and-gloom predictions

    Leah Simpson writes at DailyMail.com that high-profile economic commentator Peter Schiff predicts a major economic downturn. And he’s not alone. The next recession could put the 2008 financial crash to shame if two experts’ predictions about the worldwide debt of $247 trillion are correct. Expected to hit the…
    Mitch Kokai, September 24, 2018