Today’s political climate is filled with division and disagreement — and North Carolina is no exception. Generally considered a swing state, North Carolina has elected a president and governor of two different parties in eight of the last 15 elections. Despite partisan division that prevails throughout the state, both Democrats and Republicans have found common ground in the first month of their terms.
Josh Stein was sworn in as the 76th governor of North Carolina after defeating controversial Republican candidate Mark Robinson in the 2024 election. Along with his victory, Democrats won the statewide offices for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and state superintendent.
After securing a landslide victory of nearly 15 points against Robinson, Stein is in a pivotal position to carry out the promises he shared while on the campaign trail.
Outside the executive branch Democrats will have to balance power with their Republican counterparts, who hold 30 seats compared to Democrats’ 20 seats in the senate and 72 seats compared to Democrats’ 48 in the state house.
Notably, Republicans lost the supermajority in the state legislature after Democrats won a critical seat near Raleigh this past election. Therefore, Republicans cannot veto what the Stein Administration signs into law, in contrast to the power they held during the latter end of the Cooper Administration. Republicans were granted a supermajority in the spring of 2023 when North Carolina Democrat Tricia Cotham switched her party affiliation to Republican.
Due to the nature of the legislative branch, the Democratic and Republican agendas in the next two years will be difficult to implement at best. Lacking a supermajority, Republicans will need to work with Democrats if they want to influence the legislative agenda for the foreseeable future — and they seem willing in two key areas.
Hurricane Helene relief efforts
During Stein’s inaugural address, he said his priority was to continue Hurricane Helene relief efforts. He noted his first executive orders accelerated hurricane relief efforts through the purchase of up to 1,000 temporary housing units for victims of Hurricane Helene.
“We must overcome the unprecedented storm that ravaged our state and the everyday struggles that impact our neighbors, and we will,” he stated.
North Carolina Republicans seem to be united in these efforts, as well. Newly elected general assembly Speaker of the House and Republican Destin Hall stated in his first address to the legislature, “No question, Western North Carolina storm relief. It’s the most urgent need that we have. We’re going to get to it very quickly.”
Hall also argued for a mini-budget bill that “get[s] people back in their homes, rebuild[s] homes and, most importantly, avoid[s] a lot of the mistakes that we saw in eastern North Carolina, where folks are still not back in their homes eight years later.”
Stein’s action to prioritize relief efforts and Hall’s commitment to address the urgent needs of storm victims underscore a unified approach between the two parties. This bipartisan collaboration allows Hurricane Helene relief efforts to continue in the upcoming years, unaffected by partisan agendas.
Education system efforts
In his inaugural address, Stein also stated that he plans to improve the educational system in North Carolina. The Education Law Center, an organization dedicated to expanding educational opportunities for all North Carolina students, found that the state ranks 48th in per-pupil funding and 42nd in teacher pay. Stein’s speech outlined giving teacher raises, additional public school funding and enhanced career education and apprenticeship programs.
A notable absence in his list of educational reforms was private school vouchers, which has been a polarizing issue for North Carolina politicians. Just before the election, Stein suggested that much of North Carolina’s funding went to private school vouchers and that the program eats the public education budget and hurts rural school systems. His statement referenced a recent bill passed by the Republican legislature last November that funded the state’s private school voucher program.
Hall has similarly outlined the need to invest in the education system, both the K-12 and UNC systems. He outlined incentivizing new teachers, increasing parent involvement in schools and spending money on school safety.
Notably absent was a mention of school vouchers, though Hall was a primary sponsor of the Republican voucher program implemented in November.
With low rankings in funding and teacher pay, both the Stein Administration and the Republican-controlled state legislature want to improve the current education system. Although both sides disagree on which parts of the education system should be most heavily supported, they both appear to focus on issues that have levels of bipartisan support, rather than policies like school vouchers that are more contentious.
North Carolina’s political future is defined by the competing interests of the Stein Administration and the Republican-controlled legislature. While issues like school vouchers highlight deep divisions over priorities and approaches, bipartisan cooperation appears to be at the forefront.