The N.C. Association of Educators predicted 50,000 teachers or more marching on Raleigh. The crowds were less than a tenth of that size. We also touch on the tragedy at UNC Charlotte, the 3rd Congressional District primary and the Senate veto override vote on the "Born Alive" act.
As the Senate considers an override of Gov. Cooper's veto on the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, an unusual argument has emerged against it — that Republicans should have considered the bill earlier.
We break down the problems with the 11 bills the state Democratic Party has listed as representative of their policy proposals.
The N.C. House is rolling out its budget priorities for the 2019 biennium, and there's a lot to digest. We go through a couple important elements that you won't read about in the mainstream media. To find the links to budget documents I mentioned, go here: https://lockerroom.johnlocke.org/2019/04/26/house-budget-documents-just-in-time-for-weekend-review/
The answer is yes, but not in the way you might expect.
We record live from the early voting polls as the 9th Congressional District special election gets underway. Candidates are going negative on one person only so far. Will that change?
The concept of "fact-checking" was pretty revolutionary when it was popularized by PolitiFact in 2007. But over time, its meaning has diminished — particularly in North Carolina. We dive deep into two recent fact-checks from the News & Observer and show you how you can ferret out its biases.
Plus will Republicans have time to come together and win back the executive mansion?
State Sen. Jeff Jackson wades into the Mueller debate and the National Association of Realtors PAC drops $1.3 million in a primary.
After Gov. Cooper vetoed the Born Alive act, the rhetoric quickly got out of control. We parse what this bill is actually about.
As the "Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act" heads to Gov. Cooper's desk, we look into the two contradictory counterarguments being put forward by the left. Then we discuss Rev. William Barber being allowed back at the General Assembly building and Dan McCready refunding a $2,000 donation from Rep. Ilhan Omar.
We take our first look at first quarter fundraising filings in the 9th Congressional District then touch on a strong statement from Iredell-Statesville Schools about keeping class in session on May 1.
NCGOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse said today he’ll leave the job in June when his contract expires. It’s not really a surprise, and we discuss why. Also, get to know Gov. Cooper’s two new picks to the state Court of Appeals.
We catch up with Lawrence Shaheen, a Charlotte attorney and recently elected chairman of the Mecklenburg County Young Republicans. The Meck YRs recently published a statement calling for a "fresh start" and new leadership in the wake of the indictment of NCGOP chairman Robin Hayes. We talk about what the Mecklenburg County Young Republicans are about and what the state needs in its next state GOP chairperson.
North Carolina's two largest school districts — Wake and Mecklenburg — have now both said they'll cancel classes on May 1 to allow teachers to attend the N.C. Association of Educators rally/strike in Raleigh. We go into why the NCAE is disingenuous in its rhetoric and question why school districts are leaving families high and dry. Plus, we discuss: A minor dust-up between 9th District Republicans Stony Rushing and Dan Bishop A new bill to require Uber drivers to display a lighted sign The N&...
We go over a few of the day's top headlines, including a Meredith poll that says both Republicans and Democrats think we need a viable third party in state politics. I explain why that's not going to happen and might not be the best idea to pursue anyway. Plus, a quick recap of the Medicaid expansion that shall not be named, a somewhat silly fix to the state's voter ID law, and an examination of whether North Carolina really is not suited for rail transit.
For decades now, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have been talking about consolidating their governments. They've taken small steps forward, coordinating on certain services like police, water, and parks. Now more coordination for land development is on the table, and we talk about its chances of moving forward with Bryan Holladay, the principal of CLT Public Relations.
Usually, the media reports on political contributions as something underhanded and nefarious. And yes, it’s important to watchdog money in politics — as the recent indictments prove. But there are plenty of good reasons to contribute to candidates. We go over 5 of them.
North Carolina can’t seem to have an honest conversation about education. We’ll get into why. First, the media unfairly paints the NCGOP as out to destroy public education. Second, we can’t decide on what numbers are fair. And third, we don’t have any way to actually gauge how teachers feel.
A day after NCGOP chairman Robin Hayes was indicted along with a major political donor, the big questions is: Who else might get wrapped up in the scandal? We examine the connections Wayne Goodwin, Mark Walker and Dan Forest have with Greg Lindberg and the chances that they might be damaged politically. We also spend time discussing Cherie Berry's impending retirement and a new proposal that would give teachers direct access to $400 apiece to buy classroom supplies.
The Longleaf Podcast is back in a new format! North Carolina’s best political commentary on the day’s top news. Today, we take on Robin Hayes’ indictment.
We chat with the author of Cumberland County's new political blog Cross Creek Divide on the state of Fayetteville politics, Cumberland as a bellwether county, the turmoil in the 9th Congressional District, and the value that political bloggers bring to the marketplace of ideas.
Is it gerrymandering or geography? In this episode, we take on the most common counterarguments to the piece in this week's Longleaf Politics newsletter about why Democrats won a majority of the statewide vote but a smaller percentage of seats. Join the conversation! Send a note to andrew@longleafpolitics.com.
The 2018 elections had extraordinarily high turnout for a midterm year. Thousands more people, from all political persuasions, were involved. Here are five ways to keep it up between now and the next election, ranked by how easy they are.
We're back with a mini-episode about candidates for political office who aren't just flawed, but actually on record saying reprehensible things. A recent example is Russell Walker, a N.C. House candidate on the Republican ticket who made racist comments. Headlines this week described how a racist N.C. Republican won 37% of the vote. We dive into why we keep seeing this type of person on the ballot and what we can do about it.
Now that the dust has settled a little bit from Election Night, we spend this episode breaking down the biggest winners and biggest losers from the midterm elections. It was hard to spin it as anything but a bad night for N.C. Republicans, but at least one of them makes the biggest winner list. Get involved in the podcast! Send in feedback to andrew@longleafpolitics.com. And please, leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice.
We run through the 5 top stories to come out of the 2018 midterm elections in North Carolina. The biggest: Republicans have lost their supermajority in the N.C. House.
This is the first episode on a new series I'm calling DECODED. We'll break down stories in the national or regional media about North Carolina politics and discuss why they turned out the way they did. In this episode, we discuss the latest piece in The Atlantic about N.C. Republicans and the 2018 midterm ballot and why the national media in general seems to love writing hit pieces on the NCGOP. Let me know how you like the new format. Send in a note to andrew@longleafpolitics.com or use the Anc...
The team at Indiv has sponsored this podcast for the last few months, and this week we wanted to bring you the story of how the app came about and how they're working to improve the political conversation in North Carolina and around the country.
With 10 days remaining until Election Day, we catch up with North Carolina political experts Tonya Jameson (Democrat) and Lawrence Shaheen (Republican) on what they're seeing at the polls and what early voting returns lead them to believe for this election. We touch on several incidents of incivility and how candidates set the tone for campaigns. Then we talk fearless predictions for the 9th Congressional District, the General Assembly supermajorities and some other key races.
