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)

  • Hillary relying on handful of big donors

    Joe Schoffstall of the Washington Free Beacon attempts to shine light on Hillary Clinton’s latest venture. The dark money nonprofit launched by Hillary Clinton following her defeat against Donald Trump relied heavily on just six donors and an $800,000 money transfer from her former presidential campaign committee during…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2019

  • NYT pushes dubious global warming claim

    Michael Bastasch of the Daily Caller highlights a global warming narrative that has found a home within the New York Times. Large swaths of the U.S. are experiencing the first “polar vortex” event of 2019, and The New York Times is out with an article suggesting cold snaps…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2019

  • Fund focuses on Democrats’ disinterest in dealing with Trump

    John Fund of National Review Online addresses Democrats’ refusal to accept President Trump’s compromise proposal for ending the partial federal government shutdown. Lots of people are wondering just why Democrats rejected President Trump’s plan to reopen government agencies even before he announced the plan. House speaker Nancy Pelosi…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2019

  • A different spin on ‘we can’t afford it’

    Kevin Williamson of National Review Online challenges a popular conservative response to liberal public policy proposals. When progressives such as Representative Ocasio-Cortez propose to create new benefits such as a single-payer health-care system or a universal college-tuition benefit, the most frequent conservative rejoinder is: “That’s a nice idea,…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2019

  • School choice week: How more parental choice could help those on the left coast

    Lance Izumi of the Pacific Research Institute takes an interesting approach to the Los Angeles public school teachers’ strike. Conventional analyses of the Los Angeles teachers strike present the public with a false dichotomy: is the teachers union right or is the school district right? The reality is…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2019
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  • New Carolina Journal Online features

    Dan Way reports for Carolina Journal Online on competing Democratic and Republican news conferences leading into today’s court hearing in the 9th Congressional District controversy. Way also reports on a private N.C. university’s new health sciences center. John Hood’s Daily Journal explains why Democratic policy priorities could…
    Mitch Kokai, January 22, 2019

  • Martin Center column explores UNC leadership crisis

    Jay Schalin of the Martin Center takes aim at UNC’s recent leadership problems. Carol Folt’s tenure as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill came to an abrupt end last week, thanks to her failure to grasp political realities and her defiant support of the school’s…
    Mitch Kokai, January 21, 2019

  • The Senate could go ‘nuclear’ again

    Paul Mirengoff writes for the Powerline blog about a possible major shift in U.S. Senate rules. It’s designed to advance presidential appointments more quickly. Faced with the resulting backlog of nominees, and with Democrats insisting on 30 hours of floor debate even for innocuous district court nominees and…
    Mitch Kokai, January 21, 2019