It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. It is official as of Monday morning. Former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper has officially announced his bid for the United States Senate seat that has been left vacant by Tom Tillis.
That election will be coming up in November of next year. To walk us through some of those details and the implications here across the Tar Hill State, the managing editor of CarolinaJournal.com, David Larson, joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. David, this was pretty much all but a done deal last week as rumors started coming out early Monday morning. The former governor made it official. What's your immediate reaction to his announcement?
Yeah, I think Democrats are probably very happy that this is an official, this is a done deal, because they've been pushing him really hard. To accept this, you know, he said in his Twitter post that he's been praying about it, thinking about it. And he's fine, decided to do it. But a lot of that deliberation was done under heavy pressure by the Democrats because they see him as their best shot. At doing something that's been difficult for Democrats for a while, which is winning a U.S.
Senate race in North Carolina. You know, last time. They had in 2008, Kay Hagan won, 1998, John Edwards won, but other than that, it's been. Republicans winning this particular race in North Carolina.
So, yeah, I think Democrats are going to be pretty happy about it, and honestly, Even if Republicans probably don't want to say it, they're a little bit nervous because he is a pretty. He does have a lot of experience and a lot of connections, and he has one six straight. statewide races in North Carolina. They've been state positions, not federal positions. I think North Carolinians tend to vote a little more Republican for federal things than state things.
But you know, that aside, he's a strong candidate, and Republicans probably know they. They can't really just be able to do it. Phone it in on this one. This is going to probably be a A really tough Tough fought battle on both sides. Let me ask you this before we get into some more details.
You know, if Tom Tillis had stayed in this race, do you think Roy Cooper would have jumped in? I know the rumor mill before Tillis made his announcement seemed to indicate that Cooper was thinking maybe about this. And I have the feeling that because of Tillis' announcement that he was not going to seek reelection, leaving essentially a wide open seat may have pushed Roy Cooper more over the edge than him staying in and going head-to-head with Senator Tom Tillis. Any thoughts on that? Yeah.
You know I don't necessarily think Tillis's incumbent advantage was as much of a strong advantage. Um for him just because the Republican base was so split about him. that there were Enough, it's kind of the problem you saw with Mark Robinson's campaign, too, is there's almost two camps, and whether you have more than MAGA side running, you You know, there's a lot of... Controversy around Mark Robinson, and they didn't unite around him, so he lost. And I think almost the same thing would have happened, the flip side of that, where the establishment likes Tillis, but the base didn't.
And then you would almost have the same thing where they wouldn't have united around him, and then he wouldn't have got the momentum that maybe he could have. But I do think Watley is. a candidate that can unite both that establishment and manga wings.
So, you know, I I think uh Either way. Tillis, I'm sorry, Cooper would have seen this as a good opportunity, whether it's an open seat or whether Tillis would have been there. It almost would have been an easier, no offense to Tom Tillis, but I almost think he wasn't Going to have as strong of a running as he had other times just because of the disunity around his candidacy among Republican primary voters.
So, the former governor released about a two and a half-minute campaign trailer video Monday morning, right at 8 a.m., right as people are getting their day started. Releases this video. It's received very well on social media thus far and over on his YouTube channel, picking up a lot of views, picking up a lot of national attention. And David, he talked a lot about his record. And when we look at his approval numbers here in North Carolina, as of our last Carolina Journal poll in May, he had an 11-point advantage, favorable versus disfavorable, polling almost near 50% for his favorability.
That is a very strong number for any political candidate, regardless of their political party. Yes, and that's going to be a hard thing for Republicans because he's somebody who not only has a name ID, but it's kind of baked in. If you've been around a while, your name ID is baked in as kind of positive or negative. Or if you see with President Trump, his floor and his ceiling are pretty close to each other.
So negative ads aren't going to sway people. And Cooper's numbers might be. you know tough to move with ads But I mean, they're sure going to try to hit him with stuff on COVID. Uh with stuff. Um just You know, a lot of that, a lot of Hurricane Helene, I imagine.
And areas that the Republicans see that he might have have failed, board of elections, chaos, DMV, I imagine things like that that are more on the executive side that he should have. overseeing uh better in their eyes. Um but you know it it could be difficult 'cause You know, it's even with COVID, it seems like something that Republicans were. Are fairly unified that that was greatly mishandled, but it was interesting to see that that wasn't, that didn't really bring his numbers down as much as. one would have thought.
So yeah, it'd be it'd be interesting to see. I mean, a lot of his record that he's running on also Are things that really, you know, he was fairly powerless governor most of the time, where either there was a complete supermajority, or maybe there was. one that was just shy and then Tricia Cotham came in and made it a super majority again and So, a lot of the things he's almost looking at the things that the supermajority Republicans did, that they didn't need to ask him any permission. Even if he vetoed something, they could override it. And he almost can look at All the things they've done and say, well, I like that we kept getting number one in business because of your taxes and regulations going down.
You know, he might not put it that way, but, or, you know, he liked that Medicaid was expanded. He liked that there were certain teacher raises, although he fought. kind of the levels that the Republican legislature decided to Put those raises.
So, you know, a lot of what he's going to choose to run on will be things that. Are not entirely attributable to him, but he can make that pick having been the person who sat in the executive mansion. Yeah, and you know, I want to highlight one of those things in particular, teacher raises. He talked about this in that two and a half minute campaign video released on Monday, talking about how he fought for teacher pay increases across the state of North Carolina, and even mentioned that he was successful in doing so with a Republican-led General Assembly. But David, I remember back to months and years of former Democrat governor Roy Cooper sparring with Republican legislators, saying that they didn't care enough about public education, were not putting enough money into funding public education, and even for a large part of his governorship had a banner on the official website for the governor talking about how we were in a state of emergency over public school funding.
That one seems to be a tough one for him to say, hey, I did this.
Meanwhile, I think a lot of North Carolinians remember some of the rhetoric around teacher pay and public school funding here in the state. Yeah, I guess he's in a tough position with that because that whole time he wanted to show those as very sparse, very, you know, nothing to brag about. But now that he has to run, he kind of has to use those same raises that he. Eventually, you know, might have signed in the end, but he He did not see those as Sufficient.
So he has to run as look at what I've done here, but also.
Something that I insulted the whole time it was happening.
So it is kind of a. Interesting position, he'll find himself in there. But I think that's, as I say, that's kind of what he'll have to do because it was really the GOP-led. Um legislature that with their supermajorities. They didn't really have to take his numbers that he threw their way in the governor's proposed budget.
not much of the governor's proposed budget really made its way into the you know, the official budget in the end.
So that's just kind of the position he'll find himself, I guess. Let's go back to his favorability. As you noted, he's already a well-defined character. His name ID is very high. He's spent a long time in government throughout the state of North Carolina.
However, David, I'm seeing a lot of commentary from political analysts that maybe Roy Cooper has not been necessarily tested with the onslaught of negative advertising that is going to be levied his way. The NRCC has already released two ads against Governor Roy Cooper talking about his record. Everything indicates this is set up to be the most expensive U.S. Senate race ever in United States history. It's going to be interesting to see if those approval numbers stay the same or start to dip when you've got potentially hundreds of millions of dollars being thrown into negative advertising against the former governor, who has a very long track record and things that Republicans can use against him.
This is one area I honestly think that the Republicans might be at a little bit of a disadvantage. Because as I was saying, once your name ID is that well known and you've been around for that long, no doubt they're going to try to throw as much money as they can and bring and to move those numbers. But it really is easier to define somebody who's a blank slate in the public's eye than it is. You know, people think, oh, I remember Cooper. I might have voted for him.
I remember during COVID, I remember doing this or that. They have an idea of him. And it is much harder to shift that idea than if somebody hasn't been defined. Michael Watley, he's known. He's a known name, especially if you're somebody who pays attention to politics.
But, you know, there's a lot more room there for defining.
So I think in this race, that is an advantage that the Democrats will have. And as you said, it's going to be. inexpensive An expensive one.
So we we heard from an insider with the Watley. Team that was telling us that they thought it would be about 750 million, was the estimate. Um that they were seeing which You know, that's not just the most expensive U.S. Senate campaign ever. That blows all the other ones.
So 404 million was the previous record. That was the state of Ohio. Um, in the in the last election, so this is you know, not quite double that, but but getting close to double the previous records, part of that is. There's not a lot of other races that are at a national level are going to be attracting money. There's, I think, the other two, maybe, big ones, will be Maine with Senator Collins up there.
That she looks a little bit weaker. She's been there a long time, but some Democrats actually like her up there. That's why she's been able to hang out in a more left-leaning state because she doesn't really always vote with the Republicans, anyways.
So maybe Democrats don't even see her as as much of a threat as they do a sort of MAGA Michael Watley North Carolina U.S. Senator would be a bigger threat, anyways. And then maybe the third one that'll get some funding. Big funding will be the Georgia one because Senator Osoff is a Democrat and he won in kind of an odd time when Trump was feuding with the Georgia Republicans and Um So he's also fairly weak.
So I'd say that one will get a bunch of funding. But You know, that's That's going to be an expensive race and a general election. And I think, as you're saying, Republicans are already spending money against Cooper, which is a sign. I think the general election has basically started. You were saying that these two announcements with Watley and Cooper.
are sort of field clearing announcements. I think, for all intents and purposes, the people with the checkbooks are looking at it as if the general election has started. There's no other person to really see as a threat. in the primaries for either side. If somebody does pop up, they're gonna get a lot of phone calls, a lot of Threats about their future.
future political career.
So I don't know that anybody's gonna have the guts. To jump in, and if they did, I don't know if they'd have the money to put up any kind of a fight.
So, for all intents and purposes, the general election has begun, really. And it's going to be a long and likely nasty battle unfolding here in North Carolina. We'll keep you up to date with the latest details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour and, of course, on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update this morning. David Larson joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. The United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is launching an investigation into Duke University and the Duke Law Journal for allegedly violating Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In July, earlier this month, I should say, the Duke Law Journal sparked controversy after reports emerged that confidential memos were sent to minority applicants offering personalized advice on improving their personal statements, potentially giving them an advantage over other students. In a letter to the Duke University President, DHHS Secretary Robert Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon emphasized the importance of Merit-based admissions, particularly in the field of medicine. The letter reads in part, racial preferences in hiring, student admissions, governance, patient care, and other operations betray the mission and endanger human lives. There is arguably no other area of our education system where the rejection of merit-based is more dangerous than medicine, where the competence of doctors mean the difference between life and death for patients, and where scientific discovery is the difference between life-saving cures and the ravages of diseases. The letter accuses Duke University's School of Medicine and Duke Health of engaging in illegal racial preferences and discriminatory practices.
It goes on to read: Duke University's School of Medicine and other components of Duke Health are engaged in practices that, if true, would violate the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and render Duke Health unfit for any further financial relationship with the federal government. Our departments have historically recognized Duke's commitment to medical excellence and would prefer to partner with Duke to uncover and repair these problems rather than terminate this relationship. That said, the concern is pressing and dire for the sake of not only the law, but patient health. Both secretaries urge the university to review all policies for unlawful race-based preferences, perform reform for any that violate the law, and provide clear assurances, including leading or leadership or staffing changes, that future compliance will be upheld. The university, according to the letter, has six months to implement these changes.
DHHS Secretary Robert Kennedy said, HHS is making it clear federal funding must support excellence, not race, in medical education, research, and training. Today, Secretary McMahon and I are calling on Duke to address these serious allegations of racial discrimination by forming a merit and civil rights committee to work with the federal government to uphold civil rights and merit-based standards at Duke Health. This is not exactly the same, but similar letters and trends that have been sent out to other institutions throughout the country over the last couple of months as the Trump administration and the president himself is following through on one of his campaign promises of removing diversity, equity, and inclusion from higher education. It's going to be interesting to watch how this process unfolds over at Duke, specifically Duke Law School and the Duke Medical Program. We'll continue to keep an eye on the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
In some other statewide news this morning, homeowners, renters, and businesses affected by Tropical Storm Chantal can now apply for low-interest disaster loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration, or the SBA. The SBA approved an administrative disaster declaration for impacted counties following the tropical storm earlier this year. Those counties include Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham, Granville, Orange, Pearson, and Wake counties. In a press release from Democrat Governor Josh Stein, he says, quote, this declaration will help families and business owners across central North Carolina who are still reeling from the severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Chantal.
I want to thank the Small Business Administration for swift approval of this request. North Carolinians are resilient, and we will get through this together. Eligible homeowners and renters may borrow up to $500,000 for repairs or reconstruction costs for their primary residence. Loans of up to $100,000 are available to cover expenses related to damaged or destroyed personal property, including clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances. Eligible businesses and nonprofits have the ability to borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace property, including real estate, inventory, and equipment.
The governor did declare a state of emergency back on July the 16th as that storm unloaded more than 10 inches of rain in a variety of counties across the central half of the state, many that are in this SBA disaster declaration. In the Piedmont, rivers swelled to record or near-record levels, with the Haw River cresting at 32.5 feet and the Eno River setting a new record at 25.6 feet. The storms surpassed the 100-year flood levels in places like Saxafall, where watermarks surpassed those from storms in both 1945 and 1996. Additionally, NCDOT officials reported over 120 road closures at the time, including major arteries such as I-40 and I-85 in Alamance counties. At least five deaths were confirmed with the storm, with over 80 rescues being completed in both Chapel Hill and Durham.
Applications for SBA disaster loans can be submitted online. The address for that is lending.sba.gov. That's lending.sba.gov. We've also got the link in our story this morning over at CarolinaJournal.com. This says the North Carolina Emergency Management Entity continues to work with local officials to assess the scope of the damage as full damage assessments are completed jointly with federal partners.
The assessment analysts will determine eligibility for additional recovery resources. Any resident that is, again, looking for some of that relief, lending.sba.gov, the link in our story this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. It's 537. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good Tuesday morning to you.
News Talk 1110-99.3 WBT.
Well, the calendar is set. A busy morning and day expected in Raleigh as members of the North Carolina General Assembly will reconvene starting at 8.30 this morning in the Senate, 9 a.m. in the House, as they look to override 14 vetoes from Democrat Governor Josh Stein. Each chamber will review seven of those vetoes, sending them across to the other chamber if overridden. And from our sources inside the North Carolina General Assembly, as soon as a veto is overridden in one chamber, it will immediately head on over to the opposite chamber and will be voted on on the same day.
So we are expecting a busy day, morning, and probably into the afternoon in Raleigh. Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger released a statement back last week saying: By vetoing these common sense bills, Governor Stein confirms that he is out of touch with the people of North Carolina. He tolerates criminal, illegal aliens roaming our streets, divisive DEI concepts in our school, and government infringements on our Second Amendment rights. I look forward to leading Senate Republicans in overriding these harmful vetoes and putting North Carolina families first. With Republicans holding a supermajority in the North Carolina Senate and Being just one vote short in the House, overriding Stein's vetoes will require full attendance from Republican lawmakers and, at least in the House, support from at least one Democrat.
We'll start with those House vetoes and the bills this morning. And did they have any bipartisan support? We'll start with House Bill 193. That's the Firearm Law Revision Act. This bill passed both chambers, with the House concurring with changes made by the Senate.
The final House vote in this legislation was 61 to 46, with one Democrat voting in favor.
So if that same Democrat supports the legislation in the override, well, then it would in fact go through the House. House Bill 96 expedited removal of unauthorized persons. Governor Stein vetoed this bill, stating that while he generally supported its core provisions, he was opposed to several amendments that were added to the bill.
However, it did receive strong bipartisan support. With 17 House Democrats joining Republicans to pass the measure. House Bill 805 is called Preventing Sexual Exploitation of Women and Minors, and it defines sex in state law based on biological attributes and bars K-12 schools from placing male and female students in the same sleeping quarters. It also prohibits state funds for gender transition procedures in correctional facilities, as well as increasing the statute of limitation on lawsuits for transition surgeries to up to 10 years. Similar story as some of the other pieces of legislation, one House Democrat voting in favor when it originally passed earlier this year.
Continuing in the House, HB 171, equality in state agencies, prohibition on diversity, equity, and inclusion. That bans DEI initiatives in state government agencies. No House Democrats voted to support that bill. House Bill 549, clarifying powers of the state auditor, would give state auditor Dave Bollock, who is a Republican, access to state agency databases, digital records, facilities, and property. One Democrat voted in favor of that bill originally.
House Bill 402, this is originally called the Reigns Act. We talked about this a lot earlier this year. This legislation would require greater legislative scrutiny and oversights for burdensome rules and regulations that impose high financial costs on state businesses and residents. The Reigns Act and the Reigns movement has been something that has been cascading throughout the United States. It's not just a push here in North Carolina.
Three House Democrats voted in favor of that bill when it passed earlier this year. And finally, in the House, House Bill 318, the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act, tightens the timeline on the law mandating that law enforcement alert. ICE before an illegal alien criminal suspect is scheduled to be released. This is one of two bills that the House Republican caucus is focusing on and targeting politically vulnerable Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterms. And like some of the other pieces of legislation, one House Democrat voted in favor of that legislation.
So as we look at the math, you've got a couple of bills that one Democrat originally voted in favor of. Will they stand up with the veto override?
Well, we'll find that out a little bit later on this morning.
Now, over in the Senate, all Republicans being in the chamber would give them enough votes within their own party to override any of the governor's vetoes. We'll start with Senate Bill 50. That's the Freedom to Carry NC Act. It allows permitless concealed carry of handguns for adults aged 18 and over. It passed the Senate in a twenty six to eighteen vote.
The House later followed suit, passing it one hundred seven to fifty nine, with no House Democrats voting in favor. Senate Bill 153, the North Carolina Border Protection Act, mandates cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and empowers residents to sue local governments that adopt what are described as sanctuary city policies that pass the Senate 26 to 17 and the House 106 to 46, with no House Democrats voting in favor of it. Senate Bill 227, eliminating DEI in public education. That legislation would prohibit DEI offices and diversity training in public schools by targeting what are described as divisive concepts like race-based meritocracy. As you can imagine, no House Democrats voted to pass that.
A similar piece of legislation, Senate Bill 558, called Eliminating DEI in a Public Higher Education, does a similar thing. It prohibits DEI offices and statements in the UNC system campuses as well as the community college system. It passed the Senate on a party line votes, party line vote. Opponents argue that it, quote, chills free speech, while supporters say it combats divisive campus practices. No House Democrat voted for it to pass.
Senate Bill 254, that's charter school changes. This legislation expands charter school authority by empowering the Charter School Review Board. The Board of Education criticized the measure as unconstitutional. That bill did pass both chambers with eight House Democrats voting in favor of it.
So that'll be an interesting one to watch today. Senate Bill 266, the Power Bill Reduction Act, repeals North Carolina's interim 2030 carbon reduction mandate, projected to save consumers across North Carolina some $15 billion by eliminating costly compliance measures. That passed the Senate in a 29 to 11 vote. The House also approved the legislation with three House Democrats supporting the measure. And finally, Senate Bill 416, that's the Personal Privacy Protection Act.
It bars state agencies from collecting or disclosing nonprofit donor data, imposing penalties on officials who disclose that information. The Senate passed it, but Stein, Democrat Governor Josh Stein, vetoed it, citing unrelated amendments. GOP lawmakers argue it protects free speech. Three House Democrats voted in favor of that bill as well.
So as lawmakers make their trek up to Raleigh this morning, we will see the relationship between Democrat Governor Josh Stein and the General Assembly has fractured and frayed over the last couple of weeks with him vetoing now 14 bills coming out of the state Republican-led legislature. We will have eyes and ears in the General Assembly throughout the day today. Full coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. And of course, we'll bring you the latest details coming up tomorrow morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Ah.
Good morning again. It's 552. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-99.3 WBT recapping our big political news. Yesterday, former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper made it official after rumors late last week that he is jumping in the race for the United States Senate coming up here in November of next year. It wasn't always this hard, because being in the middle class meant something.
You could afford a home. Your kids went to good schools. Your job paid enough to cover the basics and most summers you could get away for a few days. For the most part, life was pretty good. I'm Roy Cooper, and I know that today for too many Americans, the middle class feels like a distant dream.
Meanwhile, the biggest corporations and the richest Americans have grabbed unimaginable wealth at your expense. It's time for that to change. The governor, former governor, releasing that video yesterday on his social media platforms, talking about his record as a two-term governor here in North Carolina. He officially launched his bid to flip the Republican-held Senate seat and setting the stage for what is expected to be one of the most competitive races of the 2026 election cycle. Insiders believing that this race could top more than $750 million in spending, which would make it the most expensive Senate race in United States history.
A little backstory, Cooper, a Democrat who served two terms as governor from 2017 to 2025, is aiming to succeed Republican Senator Tom Tillis, who of course made national headlines late last month announcing that he would not run for reelection. In his launch video, Cooper emphasized his record on education, health care and economic development. Democrats believe that Cooper is best positioned to reverse a historic struggle that they've had to win Senate seats in North Carolina over the past few decades. Democrats have only carried two races since 1990. Going back to 1998, Democrat John Edwards defeated Republican incumbent Launch Faircloth, becoming the first Democrat to win a North Carolina Senate race since 1986.
A decade later, in two thousand eight, Democrat Kay Hagin unseated Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole in a high profile contest that coincided with Barack Obama's strong showing in the state of North Carolina. Since Hagen's single term, however, Democrats have failed to reclaim a Senate seat. Hagen lost her 2014 reelection bid, and Republicans have held both of the United States Senate seats through various victories in 2016, 2020 and in 2022. Cooper's early entry into the race gives him a head start in fundraising and organizing, but he is expected to face a formidable Republican opponent in Michael Watley, the former North Carolina GOP chair and current co chair of the Republican National Committee. Wally has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who praised him as a strong America First candidate.
And while Watley has not formally launched his campaign, Carolina Journal confirmed last week that an announcement is expected within the next couple of days. Richard Hudson, who is a congressman, he's also the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said, quote, Roy Cooper spent decades dragging North Carolina left, and now he wants to do the same to America. Roy Cooper supports men playing in girls' sports and raising taxes on working families. Roy Cooper marched with protesters and let them burn Raleigh. And Roy Cooper assured all of America that Joe Biden was perfectly capable of being the president for four more years.
Roy Cooper doesn't want to make America great again. He just wants to take America left. Cooper was widely criticized for extensive shutdowns across the state of North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic and his decision to march with Black Lives Matter protesters during a time when the state government, under his direction, was refusing to let people gather for worship, schools to be in session, and other public activities. The protests spread and led to riots, destruction, and curfews in Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, and Fayetteville. Republican-aligned groups have already started targeting Cooper, branding him as Radical Roy, and accusing him of pushing a left-wing agenda during his time in office.
The Senate Leadership Fund, which is a GOP super PAC closely tied to Senate Republican leadership, blasted Cooper's record, pointing to his vetoed pieces of legislation, including gender policies, parental rights, and immigration enforcement. This is said to be a major political battle here in the state of North Carolina, and it seemingly kicked off yesterday. We'll continue to track its details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour and, of course, on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Tuesday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT.
We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 11, 10, and 99.3, WBT News.
