WUNC Politics

U.S Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer purportedly imagined a Democrat would have to lock himself in a "windowless basement" and fundraise nonstop to beat incumbent GOP Sen. Thom Tillis in North Carolina. But, Cal Cunningham's campaign office has plenty of natural light.

While U.S. senators (and our airwaves) were occupied with an impeachment trial, former Vice President Joe Biden picked up a couple of endorsements from notable North Carolinians.

State Sen. Erica Smith says she's the progressive, credentialed, electable choice, even if the Democratic Party establishment isn't backing her campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Republican candidate for governor (and current lieutenant governor) Dan Forest claimed that Planned Parenthood was created to, "destroy the entire black race," during a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration. Then on Wednesday he compared abortion to slavery.

WBTV reporter Nick Ochsner doesn't hesitate to confront a subject who he feels is ducking his questions. He has a reputation for being quick to file a lawsuit when it seems officials aren't following public records laws.

The North Carolina General Assembly convened for a single day this week. But no budget deal was brokered, and now we'll be without one at least until springtime.

The state superintendent made a $928,000 emergency purchase that stoked the fight with the state board of education over what tool schools should be using to evaluate reading skills.

North Carolina state Rep. Holly Grange is competing against the sitting lieutenant governor, Dan Forest, to be the Republican nominee for governor in 2020.

A judge put North Carolina's requirement that voters show photo ID on hold for now.

There was a flurry of political retirements (some spawned by redistricting), followed by a rush of candidate filings as the year came to a close in North Carolina.

The first black person elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in the 20th Century. ... First to win a statewide election. ... First to be the state's chief justice.

Rematches are shaping up for 2020 in some North Carolina legislative districts, while dozens of seats are still unopposed with a week to go for candidate filing.

We knew Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis was running for re-election, but he made a bit of news about impeachment when he filed. And Tillis is not running unopposed.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faced criticism this week for its decision to pay the Sons of Confederate Veterans $2.5 million, and hand over the Confederate monument Silent Sam which was erected during the Jim Crow era and loomed over the school’s campus until it was toppled in August, 2018.

Darren Jackson wants to be the next Speaker of the North Carolina House.

Plans to overhaul North Carolina's Medicaid program are on an indefinite hold — another casualty of the budget impasse.

Rufus Edmisten knows something about impeachment hearings.

North Carolina's General Assembly approved a replacement congressional map.

Republican Dan Forest wants to be promoted to governor of North Carolina.

The most powerful politician in North Carolina was accused of misusing campaign funds this week.

Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly have begun redrawing congressional districts again.

The North Carolina General Assembly concluded this week with a decresendo. Legislators adjourned for a two-week recess without overriding a budget veto or finding much in the way of compromise.

Republican State Treasurer Dale Folwell went to battle with the General Assembly earlier this year over healthcare. He lost the battle, but the war over pricing, transparency, and reforming a system in North Carolina may not be over.

More "mini budgets" advanced in the North Carolina General Assembly this week.

Rep. John Szoka identifies himself as an "oddball" Republican.