WUNC Politics

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.

Republicans in North Carolina's congressional delegation are split on President Donald Trump's withdrawal of troops from northern Syria.

State Rep. Graig Meyer thinks the money it takes to campaign for seats in the North Carolina General Assembly is really a lot. The Democrat also happens to be a key player in bringing in what his party needs to have a chance at reclaiming power.

A powerful state lawmaker borrowed $500,000 from a friend and political donor for a personal loan. Months later, that lender was indicted on federal bribery charges.

More trouble in the UNC System this week with a chancellor suspended after being caught on film at a bar with co-eds.

Expanding Medicaid eligibility to cover more low income North Carolinians could lead to 37,000 new jobs in the state. That's the projection from a George Washington University professor who produced a report earlier this year on the potential economic benefits of Gov. Roy Cooper's proposal. Dr. Leighton Ku shares his message for lawmakers on this edition of the politics podcast.

Democrats have filed another lawsuit challenging North Carolina's political boundaries, this time charging that the congressional map is too partisan. Could it make tensions between state Republicans and Democrats worse? This week the finger-pointing between lawmakers in the General Assembly included calls for lie detector tests.