NC Capitol Wrap

The final days of the North Carolina state legislature's session before a long summer break saw shrimpers kill a proposal that would've set back many of their businesses, as state lawmakers also failed to deliver on other high-profile debates including a new state budget. But they approved $500 million in Hurricane Helene relief and, looking ahead to the 2026 primary elections in March, plenty of...

JetZero's massive job announcement was the only political kumbaya moment of the week. NC lawmakers spent hours wrangling over immigration bills and gun rights. In the meantime, state House and Senate leaders don't seem to be getting any closer to a budget deal, potentially leaving Hurricane Helene relief hanging during an upcoming break. 

North Carolina Republican Party chairman Jason Simmons faces a challenge for his job at this weekend's GOP convention, where U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis could also be targeted by party activists. Democrats are canvassing rural North Carolina ahead of the 2026 Senate race against Tillis, but they're also dealing with silence from Roy Cooper on his intentions. Meanwhile in the state legislature, lawmakers...

State House and Senate leaders have failed to agree on the details of a $500 million Hurricane Helene relief bill, delaying the bill's passage by weeks. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein says he wants to work with GOP lawmakers, and President Donald Trump, on Helene but needs faster action and more funding. State Senate leader Phil Berger said the legislature may have a deal soon, but Stein said in sever...

Helene relief aid and a bill to invest the NC Pension Plan in Bitcoin and other cyrptocurrencies are moving forward in the legislature. So are bills to ban DEI in public schools or to crack down on students using cell phones during class time. But other education worries could be on the horizon: The state's biggest school district is implementing a hiring freeze, citing in part the efforts by Pres...

On this week's edition of the Wrap, Jefferson Griffin's challenge to 60,000 voters moves forward in both state and federal courts. Which one will rule first? WRAL's Laura Leslie and Will Doran also break down Stein’s executive action on reproductive rights ahead of the Trump inauguration, and doctors opposed to RFK’s nomination to HHS put Tillis on the spot as 2026 looms.  

WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL State Government Reporter Will Doran talk about the opening of the 2025 legislative session and what legislative leaders say their top priorities will be in the coming week. Plus, the latest twists and turns in the state Supreme Court race, and the new state treasurer says state employees can expect to see higher health insurance premiums soon.

In this week's edition of the Wrap, Republican lawmakers succeed in overriding Cooper's veto of the power shift bill. WRAL's Laura Leslie and Paul Specht also break down the continuing battle over the Supreme Court race, and the pricetag for Helene damage becomes clearer. 

Jefferson Griffin's campaign for Supreme Court has been trying to throw out the ballots of 60,000 people who voted this year, and now the NC Democratic Party is suing to try to block his strategy. If they're successful it's likely that Justice Allison Riggs will win re-election; she led by 734 votes after a recount. Another recount is underway, but Republicans' main strategy to help Griffin is the...

A Helene aid bill contained little money for disaster relief but lots of unrelated provisions stripping power from Democrats who won election to key offices including incoming Governor Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson. One of the biggest is the latest in the GOP's nearly decade-long fight to sieze control of the State Board of Elections, which keeps being thwarted by courts and voters....

Nearly the entire country voted more pro-Trump in the 2024 elections compared to 2020, but only one other state had a smaller rightward shift than North Carolina. Republicans are celebrating that win and their continued dominance of the state's judicial elections. But Democrats see a silver lining in the fact that the state didn't trend as far right as other states, which was part of the reason wh...

The final round of polls from WRAL News and SurveyUSA released in this final week of early voting, as more than half of all voters have now already cast a ballot, breaking the record set in 2020 for early voting. The polls show an evenly tied presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in North Carolina, and both candidates plan to return to the Tar Heel State this weekend for the fin...

As influential Republicans in the most pro-Trump wings of the party suggest a Kamala Harris victory in North Carolina will be illegitimate due to potential voting difficulties in western North Carolina. But state elections officials say voter turnout in Helene-hit counties is actually higher than the state average so far. And in a North Carolina campaign stop, Trump running mate JD Vance doesn't a...

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is suing CNN for defamation. Multiple lawyers, including the man who won $1.4 billion from Alex Jones and InfoWars, spoke with WRAL about the lawsuit's chances of success and what more we can expect from legal procedings before the election. Meanwhile, NC voters set a new record for the first day of early voting even amid new efforts to spread misinformation a...

NC lawmakers came back to Raleigh this week to pass the first round of relief funding for Helene. The bill, signed into law Thursday, also extends flexibility to boards of election in the 25 counties included under the federal disaster declaration. Meantime, political tempers are rising over misinformation about the state and federal response to the storm and about the security of the upcoming ele...

It's been just over a week since CNN reported on comments North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson allegedly made on pornographic website Nude Africa praising Hitler, calling himself a "Black NAZI" and using slurs to talk about Martin Luther King Jr., among other topics. Donald Trump's campaign has since tried to distance itself from the Republican candidate for governor Trump endorsed and has heaped...

State lawmakers finally pass a massive school voucher expansion bill, plus new WRAL News poll numbers show a tight presidential race but a widening contest for governor in NC. Also, what are undocumented immigrants actually costing North Carolina taxpayers? 

The NC Board of Elections looks into Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC, while a liberal nonprofit accuses a conservative counterpart of bankrolling a powerful state lawmaker. Plus, the money's rolling in from the first quarter of sports betting in NC , while the state treasurer is sounding the alarm about the fiscal future of the state health plan. 

Joe Biden is out, Kamala Harris is in, and North Carolina's Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is among the top vice presidential candidates for the Harris 2024 campaign. WRAL's state politics team explains the benefits he could bring to the ticket, but also how Republicans might try to use it against Harris. Plus, we cover the lawsuits targeting the NC State Board of Elections over recent decisions to de...

There's major turnover in state government with the resignation or retirement of multiple state lawmakers, chiefs of staff and university chancellors. Josh Stein and Mark Robinson are obliterating campaign fundraising records as voters key in on the race to replace Gov. Roy Cooper....who's now at the center of veepstakes rumors. If President Joe Biden shutters his reelection campaign and turns the...

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Greensboro and had high praise for Gov. Roy Cooper, who has been rumored as a potential VP pick if Harris takes over the presidential nomination. We asked Cooper, who said he still supports Joe Biden for president. Meanwhile the State Board of Elections approved the Constitution Party to be on the ballot but not Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Cornel West. Republican...

WRAL's Laura Leslie and Brian Murphy recap a very busy week on Jones St. with the battle over medical marijuana reignited and the House and Senate filing dueling budgets. Plus, a last-minute attempt to regulate vaping products and Cooper's veto of the mask ban. 

North Carolina state lawmakers begin working to outlaw tianeptine, a drug marketed as a mood enhancer or diet supplement that critics call gas station heroin. Predatory roofers and towing companies may face stricter state scrutiny soon, and a bill to force polluters to pay for cleaning up PFAS chemicals from local drinking water supplies also gets a warm reception in the state House. The state bud...

Could North Carolina ban birth control if Mark Robinson is elected governor? Robinson says no, but Josh Stein says there’s a reason why Robinson recently spoke at an even hosted by an anti-birth-control group. Plus the latest on the state legislature’s proposal on continuing to allow people to wear masks for health reasons, the legal fight over control of the State Board of Elections,...

Eric and Lara Trump are speaking at the annual NCGOP convention, where North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is also speaking as Donald Trump looks for a vice presidential running mate. In the legislature, a war of words between Republican leaders on state budget talks and a proposal to undo the law allowing people to wear masks for health reasons. The UNC System BOG votes to repeal DEI policies. Gov. Roy...