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 Biden’s potential impact on higher ed

    Ross Marchand writes for the Martin Center about the new president’s approach to higher education policy. Now that President Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president, he wants to hit the ground running and attend to urgent priorities. One of his first moves was to extend student…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2021
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  • Best-case scenario for Trump fans in the years ahead

    Eddie Scarry of the Washington Examiner offers Trump supporters suggestions for how to approach the next four years. Joe Biden is now the president, and there’s nothing Republicans can do to change it. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s imagine what the next four years will…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2021
    Kamala Harris and Joe Biden

  • Chinese sanction top Trump officials

    Jack Beyrer of the Washington Free Beacon highlights communist China’s latest provocative action. The Chinese government is targeting outgoing federal government officials. The Chinese government announced sanctions on former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, and over 20 other figures from the Trump…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2021
    Great Wall of China

  • The impact of the now disbanded 1776 Commission

    Victor Davis Hanson writes for National Review Online about the work of President Trump’s commission on American history. The unanimously approved conclusions focused on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the historical challenges to these founding documents, and the need for civic renewal. The 16-member commission was diverse…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2021
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  • Biden displays disinterest in accurate American history

    Brittany Bernstein of National Review Online highlights one disappointing opening-day action from the new Biden administration. President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued an executive order dissolving the Trump Administration’s 1776 Commission, which was established to study the core principles of the nation and to advise the federal government…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2021
    Constitutional convention portrait

  • This weekend on Carolina Journal Radio

    Voters and taxpayers might hear sharply contrasting messages over the next four years from their Democratic governor and Republican lieutenant governor. Rick Henderson compares Gov. Roy Cooper and new Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson during the next edition of Carolina Journal Radio. Terry Stoops assesses N.C. families’…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2021
    Microphones in a row

  • New Carolina Journal Online features

    Rick Henderson reports for Carolina Journal Online on the death of musician Randy Parton, namesake of one of North Carolina’s worst political boondoggles. Donald Bryson’s Daily Journal urges two critical reforms for North Carolina’s Emergency Management Act.
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2021
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  • The Right AOC on Point: Media, left-wing activists misuse phrase ‘almost surgical precision’

    John Locke Foundation CEO Amy Cooke, “The Right AOC,” explains how reporters and left-wing activists have misused the words “almost surgical precision” to criticize Republican N.C. lawmakers. Contact Amy at [email protected] Follow her at https://www.facebook.com/TheRightAOC and https://twitter.com/TheRightAOC.
    Mitch Kokai, January 21, 2021
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