NC Deep Dive

A Supreme Court justice doesn’t “represent” you in the courtroom, but the decisions they help write can still touch your wallet, your vote, and your child’s education. We’re joined by Justice Anita Earls, the Democratic candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 1 race, for a clear look at what the court actually does and what voters should be listening for in a judicial...

Wake County is booming, but a booming region can still feel squeezed. We sit down with Julie Vvon Haefen, the Democratic candidate for North Carolina House District 36, to get specific about what’s driving anxiety in Apex, Cary, and Holly Springs: housing costs, childcare bills, crowded schools, traffic, and utilities that keep climbing. Julie explains how she approaches the job as a sitting state...

Five ballot questions can look simple on paper, then get complicated the moment you ask, “What changes next year, and what changes forever?” We break down North Carolina’s 2026 ballot so you can vote with your eyes open, not your party reflexes. I walk through the three statewide constitutional amendments and the two Wake County bond referenda, focusing on what the ballot language actually does, w...

Growth is reshaping southern Wake County fast, and the choices on your ballot decide how we pay for it, regulate it, and live with it. Join us as we sit down with Robert Von Brederode, the Republican candidate for North Carolina State Senate District 13, for a wide ranging, voter focused conversation about what he wants to change and the principles he says will guide him in Raleigh. His campaign m...

Most people never see the North Carolina Court of Appeals at work, yet its decisions reach into everyday life across all 100 counties. We sat down with Judge Toby Hampson, a Democratic candidate for the NC Court of Appeals Seat 02, to pull back the curtain on what appellate judges actually do and what you, as a voter, should pay attention to in a statewide judicial race. We talk about the core job...

County government is where politics stops being abstract and starts showing up in your everyday life, in the schools your kids attend, the roads you sit on, the housing costs that keep climbing, and whether mental health care is actually available when a family needs it. Christine Kushner, a Democratic candidate for the Wake County Board of Commissioners At-Large seat, shares clear, detailed insig...

Appeals aren’t TV courtroom drama, and they aren’t a second shot at arguing the facts. They’re where the rules get enforced, errors get corrected, and precedent gets set and for most North Carolina cases, the Court of Appeals is the final stop. That’s why we sit down with Judge Michael C. Byrne, the Republican candidate for the North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1, for a clear, practical convers...

Most people can explain what a governor or a legislator does. Far fewer can tell you what the North Carolina Court of Appeals decides even though it is often the final stop for the vast majority of appeals and the place where real lives quietly change course. We sit down with Judge John Arrowood, the Democratic candidate for North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1, to break down how appellate court...

Growth in Wake County is changing everything at once: commutes, school capacity, housing prices, healthcare access, and even how we think about data privacy. We sit down with Mona Singh, a Democratic candidate for the Wake County Board of Commissioners at-large seat, to hear how a longtime tech and product leader would bring a root-cause, people-first approach to county government. If you’ve ever...

Flooding, drought, dirty creeks after a storm, disappearing trees, vanishing farmland, and rising water demand can feel like separate problems until you trace them back to one place: how we use land in Wake County. That’s why this conversation with Samantha Krop, a candidate for Wake Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, is so eye-opening. Samantha brings a rare mix of experience as a f...

Growth is reshaping Wake County fast, and the question hiding in plain sight is simple: will we still have clean water, working watersheds, and enough farmland when the next wave of development hits? I sit down with CeCe Grant, a candidate for Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, to connect the dots between what looks like a small, nonpartisan race and the everyday basics w...

Your ballot can feel like a maze, especially after redistricting, but the stakes are simple: the choices in Raleigh shape your rent, your commute, your kids’ schools, and how safe you feel when you lock the door at night. Amanda Benbow Lunn sits down with Mary Insprucker, Republican candidate for North Carolina House District 36, to hear how she wants to represent parts of Cary, Apex, Holly Spring...

Wake County is growing at a pace that feels exciting until you sit in traffic, open your property tax bill, or try to find a home you can actually afford. We sit down with Wake County Board of Commissioners at-large Republican candidate Gary Hartong to unpack what “catching up to growth” really requires, and why he frames his run as an infrastructure-first campaign rooted in long-range planning. W...

Wake County is growing fast, and that growth shows up everywhere: school construction, EMS staffing, park demand, housing costs, and the property tax bill that funds most of it. I sit down with Safiyah Jackson, the democratic candidate for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 2, to get specific about how county government actually works and why revenue has become the battlefield where so ma...

Your ballot can feel overwhelming until you slow down and hear how a candidate thinks when the questions get specific. I sit down with State Senator Lisa Grafstein, who’s running for re-election in North Carolina Senate District 13, to talk through the issues voters in southern Wake County keep bringing up: the cost of living, the pace of growth, and whether state government is still working for t...

Your ballot can feel like a wall of names and amendments, but the stakes are personal: grocery bills, child care costs, crowded classrooms, traffic that steals time, and property taxes that keep climbing. We sit down with Winn Decker, democratic candidate for the North Carolina House of Representatives in District 37, to get specific about what’s changing in fast-growing Southern Wake County and w...

The most overlooked races on your ballot can have the most day-to-day impact on where you live. In Southern Wake County, the Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor contest sits right at the crossroads of development, clean water, stormwater runoff, and what happens to the farms and open land that still define so much of our quality of life. I’m joined by candidate Jim White fo...

We talk with John Adcock, Republican candidate for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 2, about what Southern Wake needs from county government and how he plans to measure every decision against local impact. We focus on affordability, transportation, transparency, and what accountability should look like when the county makes billion-dollar choices.  • district-only voting and what it cha...

Judicial races are the ones most people skip and they might be the ones that shape your life the fastest. We sit down with Christine Walczyk, a Wake County trial judge and democratic candidate for the North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 3 race, to translate what the appellate courts actually do, why their decisions set statewide precedent, and how recent changes mean the Court of Appeals often be...

Your rent is up, groceries cost more than they did last year, and health care still feels like a maze with a price tag attached. That’s the backdrop for our Candidate Conversation with Paul Barringer, the Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District, where he makes the case that Congress should stop rubber-stamping and start protecting ever...

Politics gets real when it touches the streets you drive, the schools your kids sit in, and the bills that show up every month. That’s why we sat down with NC Senate District 17 Republican candidate Shirley Johnson for a wide-ranging, specific conversation focused on Southern Wake County communities like Holly Springs and Apex, plus the fast-changing edge of Raleigh. We start with why she’s runnin...

This episode breaks down the Democratic primary for North Carolina House District 37 , where Winn Decker, Ralph Clements, and Marcus Gadson are competing to face Republican incumbent Erin Paré in November. Decker leans on his bipartisan policy experience and coordinated planning, focusing on housing, infrastructure, and schools to keep pace with Wake County’s growth. Clements emphasizes consumer p...

In this episode we zoom into the District 17 NC Senate race that will be on the Republican Ballot. Sarah Al-Baghdadi positions herself as a community-focused contender with experience in law enforcement, substitute teaching, and small business. She centers mental health, promises high accessibility, and raises concerns about proposed data centers, though her public record is light—no campaign webs...

Wake County’s next District Attorney will shape how justice works every day; and this year, the Democratic primary effectively decides the office. There is no Republican challenger, so the primary winner will take the seat in November. This episode breaks down the three-way race — Sherita Walton, Melanie Shekita, and Wiley Nickel — and translates their platforms into real stakes: which cases get p...

The quiet races decide so much. This GOP primary for North Carolina’s Court of Appeals Seat 1 asks a sharp question: what kind of experience best prepares a judge to review the law—meticulous appellate-ready opinions or years of trial-tested judgment? We walk through the ballot basics, then dig into two distinct judicial résumés. Administrative Law Judge Michael C. Byrne spotlights nearly 400 writ...