From the Campaign Trail

September 21, 2024

Today we have updates from the campaign trail about two elected positions that determine whether the rule of law is followed in North Carolina and whether environmental activists and government bureaucrats can abuse the government’s power.

Attorney General

The race to be the next Attorney General for North Carolina is set to be the most expensive Attorney General election ever. It features two Congressmen, Republican Dan Bishop and Democrat Jeff Jackson.
 
Dan Bishop worked as a successful appellate attorney in Charlotte, trying hundreds of cases in state and federal courts. He was honored at one of Business NC’s “Legal Elite” ten times and named a “Super Lawyer” seven times. Bishop represented South Charlotte in the North Carolina House and Senate. In 2019, he ran for Congress in a special election and secured a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
 
Jeff Jackson grew up in Chapel Hill and worked as an assistant district attorney in the Charlotte area, primarily handling low-level cases like traffic court. In 2014, he won a political insider contest to secure a vacancy appointment to a state senate seat, where he served in the North Carolina Senate from a heavily Democratic area until 2022. While in the state legislature, Jackson focused on gaining social media attention but was so tired that he often needed to nap on the Senate floor instead of paying attention to votes. However, he briefly rose from his slumber to cast a vote against the 2018 Farm Act, which provided critical protections for hog farmers against trial lawyers.

Jackson grew bored of napping in the General Assembly, so he announced a run for U.S. Senate, branded an unserious candidate and later stepped aside for Cheri Beasley, who lost to Ted Budd. However, Jackson secured a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the Charlotte area after redistricting.
 
Continuing his pattern of running for public office, Jackson focused on becoming a TikTok influencer instead of finding bipartisan solutions for his constituents. After Josh Stein announced his run for governor, Jackson decided to run for Attorney General.
 
Republican and Democratic groups have announced plans to invest millions in TV advertising, with many political insiders expecting this to be the most expensive race for Attorney General in American history. Bishop released his first TV ad this week, highlighting his experience in the courtroom versus Jackson’s experience prosecuting parking tickets. Jackson has released his first ad as well, bragging about raising money for them on TikTok.

North Carolina Supreme Court

North Carolina has an open race to fill the seat vacated by Justice Michael Morgan’s retirement. Appellate Court Judge Jefferson Griffin is the Republican nominee, and Justice Allison Riggs is the Democratic nominee.
 
Jefferson Griffin currently serves on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He is from Nash County and graduated from North Carolina Central Law School in 2010. Jefferson started a private practice in Kinston before joining the Wake County District Attorney’s office, where he prosecuted various cases. Griffin is a Captain and JAG officer in the North Carolina Army National Guard and deployed to the Middle East in 2019 and 2020.
 
Jefferson was first elected to Wake County District Court in 2016 and then to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2020.
 
Allison Riggs was appointed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals to fill a vacancy after a long history of suing the state of North Carolina, advocating for greater partisan advantage from Democrats. When Justice Michael Morgan ran for governor, Gov. Cooper appointed Riggs to fill the vacancy over a more qualified black female jurist, which caused controversy at the time.
 
Riggs launched her first TV advertisement, which may have violated the North Carolina Judicial Code of Conduct. The Ethics Codes prohibit judges from campaigning directly on issues to preserve their impartiality before ruling on cases. In the ad, she promises to stand up for abortion rights against potential challenges. Regardless of one’s view of the abortion issue, the problem here is that she is announcing her bias and intention to rule without ever hearing a case; this comprises her impartiality. These ads may well be cited as grounds for recusal on abortion-related cases that come to the North Carolina Supreme Court because she announced her political bias.
 
North Carolinians deserve fair, impartial justices, not a politician in robes who wants to legislate from the bench. 

Current Election Landscape

The Carolina Journal has posted the results of its first poll of the election season. Here is the current picture in North Carolina:

  • Trump leads Harris by 0.3 points, with 6% undecided, and third-party candidates at 3.1% support.
  • Cornel West (1.6%) leads third-party candidates, followed by Chase Oliver (0.9%), Jill Stein, and Randall Terry (0.2%).
  • 49.3% of voters support third-party options, while 34.7% believe they take votes from major parties.
  • Josh Stein (45.5%) leads Mark Robinson (39.2%) by 6.3 points in the gubernatorial race.
  • Democrats now lead in races for State Superintendent, Supreme Court Justice, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and Labor Commissioner.
  • Maurice “Mo” Green (43.3%) leads Michele Morrow (39.2%) in the Superintendent race, while Allison Riggs (43.7%) leads Jefferson Griffin (41.2%) for Supreme Court Justice.
  • Democrat Jeff Jackson (44.6%) leads Dan Bishop (43.1%) in the Attorney General race.
  • Rachel Hunt (41.6%) leads Hal Weatherman (40.1%) in the Lieutenant Governor race.
  • Braxton Winston II (41.3%) holds a narrow lead over Luke Farley (40.9%) in the Labor Commissioner race.
  • Republicans lead in races for State Treasurer, Auditor, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Commissioner of Insurance.
  • Steve Troxler (41.1%) leads Sarah Taber (37.9%) in the Agriculture Commissioner race.
  • Republican Brad Briner (42.1%) leads Wesley Harris (40.4%) in the Treasurer race.
  • Republicans hold a 3.1-point lead in the generic Congressional race (47.9% vs. 44.8%).
  • Republican support in the General Assembly race is 46%, while Democrats are at 45.6%.
  • 75.9% of voters support a citizen-only voting amendment, with 96% of Republicans and 56% of Democrats in favor.
  • Top voter issues: inflation/prices (29.8%), immigration (15.9%), jobs/economy (15.8%), and abortion (15.6%).
  • 65.9% of voters believe campaign ads are untruthful, while only 27.3% find them truthful.

Mark your calendars for the Institute Of Political Leadership’s (IOPL) NC Commissioner of Labor debate on October 1, 2024, at Johnston County Community College, featuring Braxton Winston (D) and Luke Farley (R). They will discuss worker safety, wage laws, and labor rights, presenting differing visions for NC’s workforce policies.

Spectrum News 1 Political Reporter and Anchor Loretta Boniti will serve as moderator.It is free to attend and will be aired on Spectrum News on October 6th.
Get your tickets here.