John Hood: Bookstore Rebirth Teaches a Crucial Lesson
RALEIGH — One benefit of getting married on New Year’s Eve is that our anniversary is unlikely to slip my mind. If you doubt my capacity to forget so important a date, just ask my wife.
Opinion
John Hood: Choke Points Limits Economic Success
RALEIGH — While our state continues to best most others in economic performance, not all our households and communities are sharing in North Carolina’s prosperity. Some are struggling to replace lost jobs with new ones. Other folks are gainfully employed but see their real incomes being eroded by the rising costs of housing, health care, transportation, and other necessities.
John Hood: When Think Tanks Lose Their Way
RALEIGH — Think tank is a funny term for a serious enterprise. For more than a century — the first one was the Brookings Institution, founded in 1916 — think tanks have played important roles in American politics and government. They’ve developed and promoted ideas.
John Hood: The White Christmas No One Wanted
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.
Leader Reives Statement on Passing of 2026 Candidate Filing
I am thankful to the Democrats in every corner of North Carolina who have stepped up to run for office next year. These are our most consequential legislative races in a long time. I look forward to House Democrats competing hard to earn the trust of voters in communities all over our state. Recent elections in neighboring states and a strong 2025 for municipal races across North Carolina show that we have the potential to put seats in play that have previously felt out of reach.
John Hood: Hunt’s Pragmatism Served Our State Well
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.
Leader Reives Statement on Passing of Gov. Jim Hunt
“With Governor Jim Hunt’s passing, we have lost one of our most profound and transformational leaders. He touched the lives of millions and his legacy lives on through the service of his family and the Hunt Institute. North Carolina would not be the state it is today without the visionary leadership of Governor Hunt -- he is irreplaceable. I am praying for his wife and their family as they navigate this difficult period.”
John Hood: What American Conservatism Cannot Be
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?
John Hood: D.G. Martin Was a Class Act
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.)
John Hood: Washington Can’t Come to the Rescue
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.
John Hood: Cherish Our Free State of North Carolina
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.
Rep. Ager & Rep. Cervania Statement on House Oversight Hearing
Today the House Oversight Committee is returning to Raleigh in an environment where the Majority has returned no budget, despite their constitutional duty to do so, and has repudiated the Governor’s constitutional authority to convene a special session, which he did in the hopes the General Assembly could fully fund Medicaid.