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 labels science publishing a ‘mess’

    John Staddon writes for the Martin Center about problems plaguing science publishing. Researchers have been grumbling about the state of scientific publishing for years. Now, rumor has it that the Trump administration (yes, those science-haters!) may be trying to fix at least one problem: access to reports of government-funded…
    Mitch Kokai, January 24, 2020

  • What about Democratic senators’ impeachment votes?

    Mollie Hemingway of the Federalist focuses her attention on six Democratic senators whose impeachment trial votes are not as certain as you might think. The question of the day in a media filled with activists tends to be the Democratic question of the day, with the effect of…
    Mitch Kokai, January 24, 2020

  • Democratic senators stuck in D.C. rather than campaigning in Iowa

    David Drucker of the Washington Examiner focuses on the U.S. Senate’s Democratic presidential candidates. The Democratic primary contenders stuck in Washington for the impeachment trial of President Trump denied frustration with being forced to stay off the campaign trail as the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses approach. Sens. Amy…
    Mitch Kokai, January 24, 2020

  • Hanson lauds the ‘Israel-U.S. model’

    Victor Davis Hanson writes at National Review Online about the “resounding success” of security-related policies implemented in the two allied countries. Whether by accident or by deliberate osmosis, Israel and the U.S. have adopted similar solutions to their existential problems. Before 2002, during the various Palestinian intifadas, Israel…
    Mitch Kokai, January 24, 2020

  • A poor defense against impeachment

    Editors at National Review Online urge Republicans to drop a flawed argument against presidential impeachment. Senate Republicans, by and large, have reached an unspoken consensus about President Trump and Ukraine. He should not have put a temporary freeze on congressionally authorized aid to Ukraine, should not have dabbled…
    Mitch Kokai, January 24, 2020

  • This weekend on Carolina Journal Radio

    The Medicaid expansion lobby is cranking up its campaign again now that Kansas has decided to move forward with expansion. Jordan Roberts assesses the potential impact of Kansas’ decision on North Carolina during the next edition of Carolina Journal Radio. Joseph Coletti analyzes North Carolina’s current system…
    Mitch Kokai, January 24, 2020

  • New Carolina Journal Online features

    Julie Havlak reports for Carolina Journal Online that the N.C. state treasurer is looking into the possible sale of New Hanover’s county-owned hospital. Becki Gray’s Daily Journal explains why no one should despair about the absence of a state budget.
    Mitch Kokai, January 24, 2020

  • Predictably partisan news coverage

    Andrew Malcolm of McClatchy Newspapers ponders the predictability of today’s mainstream news media coverage. Once upon a time, news in these United States was, well, new. And people wanted to know the latest happenings. Now, however, much of the nation’s news and the people in it — even…
    Mitch Kokai, January 23, 2020