Gov. Pat McCrory

Judge Howard Manning oversaw the Leandro v. State of North Carolina case for decades.  In an interview with David Crabtree of WRAL, he praised Phil Berger and the Republican General Assembly for their focus on reading in the early grades.  He is skeptical of the WestEd report. Highlights: “I had…

She’s a smart and decisive defender of individual rights and economic freedom. I see Nikki Haley — former South Carolina governor and Ambassador to the United Nations — as a formidable presidential candidate for the Republicans in 2024. Real Clear Politics is reporting on a move that signals she…

Laura Wright, an English professor at Western Carolina, opines in today’s Raleigh News & Observer, “For more than a decade, the salary stranglehold on UNC system faculty has been perpetuated by our state’s legislature and ignored by the media. Flat wages over such a long period actually constitute cuts…

Harper Polling surveyed likely Republican primary voters on a number of issues, including choices for U.S. Senate and Governor. Former Gov. Pat McCrory — who is not running — leads the poll with 42% of likely voters choosing him. Carolina Journal reports on the latest poll here.  …

The General Assembly has provided real spending discipline since 2011, in marked contrast to the previous two decades. In the graphs below, we look first at the General Fund, then at total spending, then at the General Fund’s share of total spending. Within each set, we look first at inflation-adjust…

The Highway Fund and Highway Trust Fund pay the transportation needs of North Carolina. For most of their existence, these funds also transferred money to the General Fund and paid for operations of the State Highway Patrol. Bipartisan efforts since 2005 have ended these payments, meaning state government has $470…

It was a rare gathering of five former North Carolina governors of both political parties, as Will Rierson reports for Carolina Journal. All five attended Monday’s news conference to express opposition to two constitutional amendments the General Assembly has passed and that are scheduled to appear on the November…

State Auditor Beth Wood and her staff work in a building that has been smoke-free for years. It has been illegal to smoke in state-government buildings since 2010. In recent testimony to the Program Evaluation Oversight Committee, however, Wood noted that janitorial contracts require ash trays to be emptied every…