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Selection varies by location while supplies last. It's 506, and welcome into a Friday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. We start off with a couple of big stories across North Carolina this morning, a couple of tragedies, and some good news for the state.
We start off with former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt. He has died at the age of 88 years old. This news coming out yesterday evening, Lieutenant Governor, his daughter Rachel Hunt, saying in a statement on Thursday, it is with deep sadness that I share the passing of my beloved daddy and hero, former Governor Jim Hunt. He devoted his life to serving the people of North Carolina, guided by a belief that public service should expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and always Put people first. His leadership and compassion left a lasting impact on the lives of countless North Carolinians.
His full official name, James Baxter Hunt Jr., he went by Jim, served four terms as North Carolina governor, making him the longest-serving chief executive in state history. And at the same time, he is one of the most influential modern political figures. A Democrat, Hunt's tenure spanned two separate eras. He served as governor from 1977 to 1985, and then again from 1993 to 2001. His daughter, Rachel Hunt, is currently the lieutenant governor of North Carolina.
She was elected to that post in 2024 after serving some terms in the North Carolina Senate. Reaction began pouring in across North Carolina late in the day on Thursday to the sad news of the passing of former Governor Hunt. Governor Josh Stein, the current Democrat governor in the state, released a statement. Saying, I can think of no one who helped shape North Carolina's recent success as much as Governor Jim Hunt. Governor for 16 years, he was a visionary who founded SmartStart, raised teacher pay, protected air quality, and created North Carolina, the North Carolina Biotech Center.
On a personal level, he was a mentor and a dear friend. Anna and I are keeping Carolyn, Rachel, and the entire Hunt family in our thoughts and prayers. May Governor Hunt's memory be blessed. He certainly was for North Carolina. Hunt was born in Greensboro and raised on a farm in Wilson County.
He earned an undergraduate and graduate degree from NC State before completing his law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After serving as the lieutenant governor beginning in 1973, Hunt won his first gubernatorial election back in 1976. His administrations were marked most prominently by substantial forces on public education, earning him the infamous title in the nation of the Education Governor. Among his notable incentives were Smart Start, which is a public-private partnership program which is aimed at early childhood education and readiness. He was also a leading advocate for the development of the Research Triangle Park or RTP area between Raleigh and Durham, as well as programs like the North Carolina Biotech Center and the Institute of Emerging Issues at NC State University.
John Hood, who is the president of the John William Pope Foundation, Hood was the president of the John Locke Foundation during Hunt's third and fourth terms, said few North Carolinians can claim to have shaped the state more than Jim Hunt. He was a thoughtful leader, a passionate campaigner, and a fierce advocate for the old North state. After every conversation I had with him, I left with new ideas to ponder, admiration for his limitless curiosity, and a sore arm from him grasping my elbow and shaking my hand. Hunt also served also sought federal office after his second term as governor. In 1984, he ran for the United States Senate, challenging incumbent Republican Jesse Helms in one of the most closely watched and expensive Senate races in the country that year.
Hunt was unsuccessful in the general election, finishing with 48% of the vote compared to Republican Senator Jesse Helms, who pulled out 52%. After leaving office in his fourth term back in the year 2001, Hunt remained active in education policy. He founded the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy, which according to its website, convened.
Policymakers, educators, and researchers to discuss education reform and workforce preparation. He has served on numerous national commissions and focused on teaching standards, school leadership, and higher education. We will hear coming up in just a little bit, Donna King, the editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com and our friend Mitch Cokey from the John Locke Foundation chatted last night about the passing of North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt. We'll hear from both of them coming up here in just a couple of minutes on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other statewide news this morning, a tragedy in Iredale County as former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his immediate family, his wife, and two young children died in a brutal plane crash Thursday morning, according to officials.
Biffle was one of seven people killed when the small plane crashed at the Statesville Regional Airport around 10.15 a.m. on Thursday. That is according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, who was one of the first responding agencies on the scene. Biffle was an instrumental part in the NASCAR, which of course is huge across the state of North Carolina. And in recent years, Biffle has risen to some additional level of prominence with his advocacy and relief efforts in western North Carolina.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September of 2024, Biffle, as we saw from many other public figures, really not only talked about getting some of the recovery and relief in western North Carolina, but he put his money, his time, and his effort where his mouth was and really made it happen. Biffle and his family were flying a Cessna C-550 when it crashed at the Statesville Regional Airport. It is not immediately clear exactly what the issue was. Reports of technical issues. The National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB, as you would imagine, is investigating this situation as there are seven people dead in the crash.
Biffle was a 19-race-winning NASCAR driver and completed some 842 races from 1998 to 2022.
So, some very sad information to pass along this morning. The FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board, and Other officials are beginning the process of the investigation to determine exactly what led to whatever mechanical or technical issues caused the Cessna C-550 to crash in Iredale County Thursday afternoon. A very sad story to pass along here. This happening just one week ahead of Christmas. Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his immediate family dead after a plane crash in Iredale County.
In some other news that we are tracking across the state of North Carolina this morning, after more than 150 years, the North Carolina Lumbee Tribe has officially gained full federal recognition. This happened Thursday afternoon after President Donald Trump signed a wide-ranging defense bill known as the NDAA, a yearly provision that is passed by Congress and the President, for the most part typically signs, which does contain a provision to recognize the tribe. The bill reached Trump's desk after the United States Senate passed it on Wednesday of this week in a 77 to 20 vote. Included in the bill was the Lumbee Fairness Act, which if you have been following us now for any period of time, we have talked about the Lumbee Fairness Act throughout this year as it extended full federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and makes its members eligible for federal services and benefits, which are Are typical with most other, not all, but most other Indian tribes across the United States of America. For President Donald Trump, he talked about this during his presidential campaign in 2024.
As North Carolina was a major swing state for the president, he spent a lot of time campaigning across the Tarheel State, and very frequently he would talk about his promise to make federal recognition for the people of the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina a reality. And well, promises made, promises kept, it has come to fruition. United States Senator Tom Tillis said for 137 years, the Lumbee tribe fought for full federal recognition that they were promised. And today, that promise has finally been fulfilled. By signing the Lumbee Fairness Act into law, a historic injustice has been corrected, and the Lumbee people can finally access the full federal benefits that they have long earned and deserve.
This year's NDAA is.
some 3,000 pages. It funds the military, its contractors, and makes other changes to national defense priorities. Again, this is a yearly piece of legislation that we see in Washington, D.C. With that federal recognition coming to fruition, some other reaction, including that from Governor Josh Stein, who says, the history of the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina long predates the history of the state of North Carolina. I applaud this long-delayed recognition, which will reap benefits to the Lumbee and to North Carolina.
So, for the 66 plus thousand members of the Lumbee Tribe, most of them living in Robeson County, North Carolina, they will now begin the process of being able to take advantage of those full federal benefits. To say this is a big thing for the Lumbee people is a huge understatement.
Some of this advocacy work has been going on literally for a century plus to make this a reality. It is official. We will watch what some of those federal resources look like in helping the Lumbee Tribe and the people of Robeson County coming up in the months and years ahead. While holiday shopping is almost always fun, credit can be confusing. Download the MyFICO app now and shop with confidence, knowing that you can stay on top of your credit 24-7.
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This is Boen Yang from Los Culturalistos with Matt Rogers and Bo and Yang. Hey Boen, it's gift season! Ugh, stressing me out. Why are the people I love so hard to shop for? Probably 'cause they only make boring gift guides that are totally uninspired.
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It's 22 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good Friday morning to you. While we're not even to Christmas yet, we are already looking towards some legal challenges and battles that we will see in early 2026.
One of the stories that we've been tracking over the last probably six or plus so months here on the Carolina Journal News Hour is an appointment battle between the North Carolina Legislature and Governor Josh Stein over appointment authority to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. There is a date set for late January of 2026 to walk us through what we might be seeing when we approach that date in late January. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, the state auditor and Dave Bollock has been running the state board of elections now for well over six months.
However, there is still some pending litigation ongoing. What are you expecting when this late January court date rolls around?
Well, this court date represents the oral arguments at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Backing up a little bit, you'll remember that the General Assembly passed a new law that shifted appointment power over the Board of Elections from the governor to the state auditor. And once that happened, the governor filed suit saying this is a violation of his constitutional authority. A trial court panel ruled in favor of Governor Josh Stein and said, no, the General Assembly couldn't do that. But then the state appeals court stepped in, and with an order that did not have much explanation to it, if any, it said that no, this trial court order was going to get blocked.
And so the state law that shifted the power from Governor Stein to Auditor Bollock would go forward. The state Supreme Court. Upheld that decision. And so Dave Bollock was able to take over not only the administrative control over the Board of Elections, but appointment power, which helped then shift all of the county elections board and the state board itself from 3-2 Democratic majorities to 3-2 Republican majorities.
Now, what is happening is the case, while those rulings came out, still continues at the Court of Appeals. And now a three-judge panel of the State Court of Appeals has been set that's going to hear oral arguments and ultimately decide this case. What's interesting is the panel that blocked the lower court ruling and thus allowed Dave Bollock to take over was an all-Republican panel.
Now the panel that's going to be hearing the case and making an ultimate decision on the merits of this argument is a bipartisan panel. You have Judges Valerie Zachary and April Wood, who are Republicans, and you have Judge John Arrowwood, who's a Democrat. And interestingly enough, Since this is dealing with elections, John Arrowwood is in fact going to be on the ballot in 2026. He is running for re-election to his seat on the Court of Appeals.
So this will have a fairly interesting impact on him as this moves forward. But that's what's going to happen January 27th, oral arguments before that three-judge panel. And then at some point, After that, we will see a ruling. I wouldn't expect anything very quick, but it could be a matter of a few months of sometime perhaps in the spring or summer of 2026, we would see a ruling from the Court of Appeals. And presumably, whichever side loses that decision for the Court of Appeals would appeal to the state Supreme Court.
And Mitch, you mentioned in your open some of the logistical changes that have gone on here in the state throughout the latter and the middle parts of 2025. With that appointment authority, as you noted, it wasn't just at the state board of elections level with the change from 3-2 Democrat to 3-2 Republican. This happened in 100 counties across the state of North Carolina. Shake-ups on every single county board of elections to adopt that additional power shift from Democrat to Republican.
So depending on the timeline, when some of this shakes out as we get into the summer and to the fall of 2026, of course, they're going to have a major midterm election. I would imagine that's probably going to be on the minds of the court that we're not going to be potentially shifting the responsibility from the state board of election, maybe just weeks before a midterm election. Yeah, my guess is that there would not be any kind of ruling that would change the process during this current election. That's possible, but I think it would be doubtful, especially given the fact that you have a panel that has a majority of Republicans on it, given that it's a Republican-majority board. My guess is, even if The Court of Appeals panel that's hearing this case thinks that the panel that put forward the earlier order got it wrong, and I wouldn't put any money on that.
But if they think that they got it wrong, it would probably say we're going to keep the Board of Elections arrangements as we have them since we have already started this current election cycle. But if there had to be a change, that it would take effect at the end of the 2026 election cycle and take effect for 2027. But that's, of course, if the panel decided that the original trial court judges got it right and that the appeals court panel that put in the order blocking that trial court order got it wrong. I wouldn't bet on that at this point, but that is a possibility. And if it does happen that way, it could either happen that the panel comes up with its ruling sometime after the 2026 elections because there's no Timeline saying when they have to rule, or if they do rule at some point in 2026, they may say, if they decided to restore the trial court panel's ruling, they would say, all right, the trial court got it right, but we're going to make this effective for 2027 and moving forward, rather than throwing another monkey wrench into the system during the course of the election season.
Mitch, of course, this morning we're talking about the state board of elections and some of the appointment authority here, but this has been a broader change from the North Carolina General Assembly. We have followed this throughout the year and even into the latter parts of 2024 here on the Carolina Journal News Hour as the General Assembly is changing appointment authorities that previously had been held by the governor. There's a couple of different legal challenges ongoing right now that are pitting current Democrat Governor Josh Stein against the Republican-led legislature. Yeah, there are at least three cases. There's this case that we've been talking about.
There's another case that goes back to the era of Roy Cooper being the governor that dealt with seven different state boards and commissions and whether the General Assembly invaded the governor's constitutional authority by changing appointments to those boards. That's a case. Right now, there's an appeal from the General Assembly to the state Supreme Court. And interestingly enough, one of the parts of that appeal is that the General Assembly is asking the state Supreme Court to throw out a couple of earlier precedents that have had major impacts in helping the governor in some of these intra-branch executive branch versus legislative branch fights. A case called McCrory v.
Berger from 2016 and Cooper v. Berger, or sometimes Cooper I from 2019, in which the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the governor. The General Assembly is asking the state Supreme Court now to take that appointments case and throw out those. Presidents saying that they were wrong from the day they were originally decided. Then there's another case that involves a fight over.
filling statewide judicial vacancies. Shifting an appointment on the Utilities Commission from the governor to the state treasurer.
So all of those things are still in the mix, and it'll be very interesting to see how they ultimately get resolved. I think what the General Assembly wants to see happen is that the state Supreme Court looks at all of these cases, or at least looks at one of them and says, okay, apply this ruling to everything else and say the General Assembly is completely within its power to make all of these changes.
Meanwhile, the governor is hoping that the McCrory and Cooper One precedents will stand because those gave him a bit of a leg up in the squabbles between the executive and legislative branches. Mitch, thanks for the information and the update this morning. We'll chat with you again as we get closer to this oral argument date in late January. And of course, as you keep an eye on some of these other pending legal challenges here in the state of North Carolina, you can get some additional coverage this morning by visiting our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
This is Matt Rogers from Los Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Boen Yang from Los Culturalistos with Matt Rogers and Bo and Yang. Hey, Boen, it's gift season. Ugh, stressing me out. Why are the people I love so hard to shop for?
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Ah! It's 5.39. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT recapping one of our big stories across the state this morning. Former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt has died at the age of 88 years old. That news was broken yesterday by his daughter, who is the current lieutenant governor of North Carolina in Rachel Hunt.
Her statement reads in part: It is with deep sadness that I share the passing of my beloved daddy and hero, former Governor Jim Hunt. Donna King, the editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com, and Mitch Cokey, who is the senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation, discussed Jim Hunt's political impact on North Carolina. Your thoughts, Donna, on the passing of Jim Hunt. Sure. You know, actually, having grown up in North Carolina, I feel like he was the governor my entire childhood.
He served four terms from 77 to 85, and then again from 93 to 2001.
So when you think of a North Carolina governor, you truly think of Jim Hunt. And he really focused a lot on education, was a huge advocate for the development of Research Triangle Park, lots of biotech, North Carolina biotech, all of these kinds of things that we think of when you think of North Carolina, you really think of Jim Hunt. And so it really is quite a day in North Carolina, his passing, but his legacy is just tremendous. To me, Jim Hunt goes down as one of the two key figures in North Carolina politics in the second half of the 20th century, the other being Jesse Helms on the other side of the political fence. And of course, they had their major campaign against each other in 1984.
But Jim Hunt really transformed North Carolina's political landscape. Remember, before he became governor, All North Carolina governors served one term.
So they basically got there four years to do what they wanted to do. And then after that, they could do something else in politics, but otherwise they were done. While Jim Hunt was serving his first term, The Constitution was changed so that a governor could succeed himself. He did that. He became the first two-term governor.
And then, after being out for eight years, while Republican Jim Martin was in, Jim Hunt came back and did another two terms. I mean, my first experience with Jim Hunt was not personal in terms of interaction with him, but it was personal in terms of impact on me. And that was. When I was in college at Carolina, we lost one of our professors because he went to become Jim Hunt's environmental secretary when he started his third term.
So that was the first experience I had with him. And then during my professional career, I had a number of times to encounter him. One of the things that I'd like to get your thoughts on this. That was very interesting is that Jim Hunt seemed to have a really good sense. Of where North Carolina politics was going.
After the big election of 1994 that was a Republican wave. He contacted the John Locke Foundation, our employer, John Hood, and said, Hey, I'd like to give a presentation to you folks. And that presentation ended up having, as a major component, a tax cut.
So, Jim Hunt, while being a Democrat, being a very fierce Democrat, working to elect Democrats over and over again, not only during his time in office, but also afterward. Working for the Democratic Party could see when things were shifting in a different direction and said, okay, you know, if people are looking in this direction, let's see how we as Democrats can get involved and shape those policies in a way that we like and not just leave everything in Republicans' hands. Right, right. That's such an important point that you make because he was one of the folks that could understand the value of different arguments regardless of party. And while certainly he built the Democratic machine that we're seeing today, even now, fundraising reached lots of think tanks and issue-oriented groups, but he did.
He reached out across the aisle. He made sure that the Democrats stayed relevant during those times when Republicans were taking over a lot of what was going on at the General Assembly, or certainly on Capitol Hill. He was always able to do that. Certainly don't mistake him for anything other than a Democrat, of course, but. He really was able to reach across and see everyone as North Carolinians first.
Yeah, very much a political figure the likes of whom we will not see again. I mean, I think the closest analog that you could have in today's politics to Jim Hunt would probably be Roy Cooper, but Roy Cooper is a very different guy. And when Republicans were in charge of the General Assembly under during Roy Cooper's tenure, there was quite a bit of fighting between Cooper and the General Assembly. Jim Hunt certainly would not have kowtowed to Republicans in the General Assembly, but when they did, hold the power in the state house during several years of his Second. Set of administrations.
He worked with them. He found ways that they could come to a mutual agreement on some issues. We mentioned the fact that he was interested, once Republicans won that 1994 election, in looking at tax cuts and looking at ways that some of these Republican ideas could be adapted by Democrats to also serve some of their principles. Jim Hunt was Certainly, a Democrat never would have wanted Republicans to win in any major election, but he knew that to remain relevant, to remain in power, the Democrats were going to have to adapt some of their ideas, some of their strategies, and make sure that they stayed in the center. of where North Carolina politics was, which I think is a lesson that is lost on some folks really in both parties.
To win, to govern, you have to have a coalition, and that can't just be the ideologues in your own party. It has to be the people of your party and being able to attract people in the middle who could swing from one party to the other depending on the election. And that strategy might be lost today. That's one thing that occurs to me: is that, you know, is that a bygone era? I mean, this was a time when there wasn't social media, there wasn't this clickbait effort to say the most bombastic thing possible in order to get attention on social media, on acts, and those kind of things.
Is that gone? Is that over? I mean, I hope not. I don't think so. I'm hoping that current elected leaders and those who might be interested in serving and running for office can take some lessons from that.
That at the end of the day, it's about getting good policy across the finish line and rather than by just generating as much money in clicks as you can get. And that's something that I think that not faced with social media in that 24-hour news cycle, he was able to do that and work across the aisle more effectively. Certainly, build a legacy in lots of organizations and a lot of focus on education, SmartStart, all of these other things that he worked on that became priorities. It really made him an effective governor. One final thing.
He's been out of office for a quarter century, but there's still the fingerprints of Jim Hunt on North Carolina politics. We saw a statement from our current governor, Josh Stein, saying that Jim Hunt was a mentor to him. Certainly Roy Cooper, who not only served two terms as governor, but is now the Democrats candidate for U.S. Senate, would certainly count Jim Hunt. Jim Hunt among the people who influenced him.
Despite the fact that he has now been out of office for 25 years, Jim Hunt is still a major force in North Carolina politics. And I would say will probably remain so for at least another 10, 15, 20 years as the people who worked directly with him, were mentored by him, and learned from him will continue to play a key role in North Carolina offices. Absolutely. And we see his daughter, Rachel Hunt, our current lieutenant governor. It's certainly big shoes to fill.
I'll be curious to see what she does with that, if she takes on some of that statesmanlike quality and approach to public policy that he became so known for. That's right.
Well, certainly sad news for North Carolina politics, the passing of Jim Hunt at age 88. That is the voice of the editor-in-chief of CarolinaJournal.com, Donna King, and John Locke, the John Locke Foundation senior political analyst Mitch Kokai, who are both of whom you are very familiar with here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, providing some of their personal stories and the overall impact that former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt had on the state of North Carolina as he served four terms as North Carolina governor from 1977 to 1985, and then again from 1993 to 2001. Former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt dead at 88 years old. This is Matt Rogers from Los Culturist with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Bowen Yang from Los Culturists with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.
Hey, Bowen, it's gift season. Stressing me out. Why are the people I love so hard to shop for? Probably because they only make boring gift guides that are totally uninspired. Except for the guide we made.
In partnership with Marshalls, where premium gifts meet incredible value, it's giving gifts! With categories like best gifts for the mom whose idea of a sensible walking shoe is a stiletto, or best gifts for me that were so thoughtful I really shouldn't have. Check out the guide on marshalls.com and gift the good stuff at marshalls. Good morning again. It's 5:54.
You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM WBT recapping another big story we are following across North Carolina this morning. It is official. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has officially gained full recognition. This coming to fruition Thursday after President Donald Trump signed the NDAA, which is a yearly defense bill passed by Congress, which included the Lumbee Fairness Act provision, which was standalone legislation introduced in Congress earlier this year. The process on this last week, the United States House included the provision for the Lumbee Tribe, the Lumby Fairness Act, in the NDAA.
That legislation made its way to the United States Senate this week. And on Wednesday, in a 77 to 20 vote, that legislation was passed, marking its move in the second chamber. As well, including that Lumby Fairness Act, which will extend federal recognition and benefits to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, making its members eligible for those federal services and benefits. This has been a long time coming for the Lumbee Tribe. United States Senator Tom Tillis said for 137 years, the Lumbee Tribe have been fighting for federal recognition, and today the federal government has finally honored that promise.
President Trump traveled to Robeson County and pledged to get federal recognition done. He kept that promise and showed extraordinary leadership. With the Senate's passage of the NDAA, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina will now achieve full federal recognition and access to every federal benefit they have earned and deserve. John Lowry, who is a member of the North Carolina House, he is the Republican representative out of Robeson County. He also is the chairman of the Lumbee Tribe, called the recognition.
Long deserved, saying, This is not the end, it's a new beginning. With recognition come new opportunities for economic growth, improved health care and education, and a stronger voice for our tribe in shaping the future of the Indian country. To our ancestors who began this fight, and to every Lumby child today, this victory is for you. Congressman David Rauser, the Republican out of the 7th congressional district in the United States House, who really spearheaded and has been working on this effort for quite some time, said passage of the Lumbee Fairness Act affords the Lumbee people the full benefits and services long afforded to other federally recognized tribes. I am proud to have worked with my colleagues to make this a reality.
This is a major story across the state of North Carolina, a major story for those a part of the Lumbee tribe in and around Robeson County. We will attract what goes on with this in the coming weeks, months, and years as that full federal recognition has now been extended to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Quick programming notes: starting next week, we will be walking through North Carolina's pivotal role in the founding of the United States. Join me as the CEO of the John Locke Foundation, Donald Bryson, as we go through North Carolina's impact, that coming up next week, right here on the Carolina. Journal News Hour.
That's going to do it for a Friday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We'll talk to you Monday morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT.
