There’s a lot on the line in North Carolina this election season, from the state’s 16 Electoral College votes down to state and local races that could determine the state’s future for years to come. WFAE's voter guide — which brings together information from WFAE, the Charlotte Ledger and other trusted sources — has information you need to help make up your mind.
Here’s a look at some of the key races and issues you’ll find on the ballot this year.
President
North Carolina was the closest state Donald Trump won in 2020, prevailing over President Joe Biden by 1.3%. With polls between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris showing a statistical dead heat, the campaigns are flooding North Carolina with ads and blitzing the state with round after round of campaign rallies. If Democrats can flip the state blue for the first time since Barack Obama in 2008, Harris’ path to the White House grows a whole lot wider — and Trump’s narrows.
Governor
Seldom has there been such a stark contrast between gubernatorial candidates as there is between Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Both would be historic: Stein the first Jewish governor and Robinson the first Black governor in state history. But Robinson’s campaign has been dogged by scandals, from the state demanding his family’s nonprofit repay $132,000 worth of taxpayer money to a report by CNN that an account linked to Robinson posted lewd, racist and sexual comments on a pornography website, including a declaration that he was a “black NAZI!”
Attorney General
Two Charlotte-area congressmen are running against each other for the state’s highest law enforcement post: Democrat Jeff Jackson and Republican Dan Bishop. Bishop has sought to portray Jackson as soft on crime and too “woke,” while Jackson has painted Bishop as an extreme right-winger.
State Superintendent
The campaign for the state’s top education official also has sharply opposed candidates. Republican Michele Morrow has homeschooled her six children and called public schools “indoctrination centers,” as well as made comments about executing former President Barack Obama on pay-per-view. Mo Green, a Democrat and former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools administrator, has spent most of his career in the public school system, including as superintendent of Guilford County Schools. The race’s insider/outsider dynamic, as well as Morrow’s comments, have drawn rare national attention to a Council of State race.
The Republican supermajority — and Tricia Cotham
When it comes to major policy shifts, nothing has been as important as the Republican supermajority in both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. That has enabled them to override Gov. Cooper’s vetoes at will and enact such policy changes as banning most abortions after 12 weeks, allocating hundreds of millions of dollars a year to private school vouchers for families without income limits and forcing all sheriffs to comply with immigration detainers from federal authorities. Without a supermajority, Cooper would have been able to successfully veto many such bills.
And that supermajority came down to a single district last year: Mecklenburg Rep. Tricia Cotham. She flipped from Democrat to Republican, upending the fragile veto lever Democrats could at least still threaten to use. Now, Cotham is running for reelection for the first time as a Republican, facing Democrat Nicole Sidman in a toss-up district that covers parts of east Charlotte and Mint Hill.
NC Supreme Court
North Carolina’s Supreme Court — like the U.S. Supreme Court — has taken heat in recent years over what critics say are increasingly partisan decisions. Republicans now hold a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court, and their rulings impact everything from legislative redistricting to abortion restrictions to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s removal from the ballot in this year’s presidential contest.
One state Supreme Court seat is up for election this year: Incumbent Allison Riggs, a Democrat, is trying to hold onto her seat against Jefferson Griffin, a Republican. Their race has become more overtly partisan than the historic norm for judicial contests, with Riggs centering abortion access and pledging to uphold it. If Riggs loses, Democrats will be down to a single seat on the state Supreme Court — a big change from 2020, when they held a 6-1 majority. And the only seat up for election before 2028 is that of Anita Earls, the sole other Democrat, whose term ends in 2026.
Record housing bonds
The city of Charlotte is asking voters to approve a record $100 million bond to subsidize affordable housing. The bond — which was set at $15 million just a decade ago, and $50 million since — goes into the city’s Housing Trust Fund. Charlotte then uses it to subsidize new affordable housing developments, repairs for low-income homeowners, first-time homebuyer payments and other subsidies. Charlotte borrows the money by issuing bonds and then pays it back in the coming years with tax revenue.
In addition to the housing bonds, voters in Charlotte will be deciding on $238 million of transportation bonds and almost $62 million worth of neighborhood improvement bonds, which go to pay for roads, sidewalks, bicycle lanes and other infrastructure.
Other local Charlotte offices — mayor and city council — aren’t up for election until next year, and the Mecklenburg County commission races on the ballot aren’t considered competitive.
