RALEIGH — Two hundred and fifty years ago this week, thousands of Carolinians were trudging through deep snow. They weren’t in search of Christmas trees, or heading over the river and through the woods to their grandmothers’ houses for holiday feasting. These were Patriot militiamen, from both Carolinas, hunting for Tories in modern-day Greenville County, South Carolina.
RALEIGH — North Carolina is one of America’s most contested electoral battlegrounds. It has been for generations. It is also home to one of the most successful state Democratic parties in American history.
RALEIGH — Why do you keep criticizing leaders and institutions on the Right? Why can’t you focus all your fire on the Left? Why can’t the Right form a united front? Why can’t we all just get along?
RALEIGH — In 1984, the first year I was eligible to vote, North Carolina had 11 congressional districts. Most were hotly contested by the majority-party Democrats and up-and-coming Republicans. (Yes, it was a different era.)
RALEIGH — North Carolina needs $120 billion worth of new investment in water, stormwater, and sewer systems, according to a recent report from the U.S. Water Alliance. I suspect that number is on the high side — the alliance represents localities, public authorities, and companies and labor unions with a financial interest in infrastructure spending — but I don’t doubt the existence of unmet needs across our state.
RALEIGH — North Carolina isn’t quite First in Freedom. But over the past decade and a half, we’ve taken tremendous strides in the right direction.
RALEIGH — North Carolina has one of the best-performing economies in the country. We also have one of the country’s most competitive tax codes. That’s no coincidence. Tax reform had served our state well.
RALEIGH — Having spent most of my career building, financing, and leading conservative institutions — in North Carolina and around the country — I’ve learned many critical lessons, often the hard way. One of them is that if you truly want to persuade and influence, rather than just perform or provoke, you can’t do it alone. You must be willing to cooperate with people who may share only some of your views and goals.
RALEIGH — It was 250 years ago this week that North Carolinians fought in their first formal battle for American independence. But they didn’t fight it in North Carolina — and they didn’t fight British redcoats.
RALEIGH — Pointing to a projected $1 billion budget hole in North Carolina’s health plan for teachers and other public employees by 2027, State Treasurer Brad Briner and his team are implementing an array of program changes and premium hikes. Their response may not be popular among beneficiaries — but reform is essential if the state is to continue providing health benefits at a reasonable cost.
RALEIGH — The odd-year elections yielded precisely what all the warning signs of 2025 portended: a strong Democratic wave that crushed Republican nominees in the gubernatorial races of New Jersey and Virginia, gave Democrats their largest legislative majorities in decades in both states, delivered left-wing results in various ballot initiatives, and elected a hate monger as attorney general of Virginia and a socialist as mayor of New York.
RALEIGH — Because I’m a fiscal conservative, you might think I reflexively oppose government borrowing. You’d be mistaken. I believe that public finance and toxicology share a common rule: the dose makes the poison.
