Weekly Recap: Casino debate, short session kicks off and a contentious runoff is underway
In-person early voting is underway in North Carolina's runoffs for state auditor and lieutenant governor. Meanwhile, lawmakers have returned to Raleigh for the start of the legislative short session.
Let’s dive into the week that was…
🎰 Casinos debate
On Monday, I shared a deep dive on North Carolina’s ongoing debate over casinos. Last year, GOP Senate leader Phil Berger led the charge to bring four new casinos to North Carolina, including one in his Rockingham County district. The proposed site: A 192-acre lot in Stokesdale next to a summer camp for kids with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
The proposal saw substantial pushback in the community, resulting in one county commissioner losing their seat and two other incumbents narrowly winning reelection.
While Berger has said he’s not intent on bringing up a casinos bill in the short session, there could be an appetite for video lottery terminals. And new revenue sources may be necessary for the state to adddress expected deficits.
Without intervention, North Carolina could soon run a roughly $2 billion annual deficit. That’d be nearly 7% of the current $30 billion state budget.
As state legislators return to Raleigh on Wednesday for this year’s short session, budget projections show North Carolina approaching a fiscal cliff within four years, according to nonpartisan analysts within the General Assembly.
Analysts in the legislature’s Fiscal Research Division are forecasting a deficit of $51 million in the 2026–2027 fiscal year. The annual shortfalls in the subsequent years climb from $1.89 billion in 2027–2028 to $2.46 billion in 2030–2031.
You can learn more about the projected shortfall, the response from lawmakers and whether expanded gambling is on the table as a solution in a piece I wrote for The Assembly here.
💰 Cooper’s budget
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper released a 223-page spending plan on Wednesday. It’s the final budget proposal of his governorship, as he will be termed out at the end of the year.
I broke down the top 8 things you need to know from it. A couple of the main highlights include an 8.5% average pay raise for teachers in 2024-2025, a $1,500 retention bonus for educators making $75,000 or less and a $1,000 bonus for those earning over $75,000. With the retention bonus included, new teachers would earn $47,500, which would be the highest in the Southeast.
Auditor Runoff
Thursday marked the start of in-person early voting for North Carolina’s runoff elections. To help folks stay informed, I profiled the auditor’s contest between Jack Clark, an accountant and legislative research assistant, and Dave Boliek, a member of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees.
The candidates come with two very different backgrounds and visions. While Boliek has shared detailed plans of agencies he’d like to audit, Clark has kept his intentions close to his chest, as he wants the auditor to be seen in the same vein as a judge.
Latest campaign finance reports show Boliek has raised more than $800,000 since launching his campaign in September, which includes $135,000 in personal loans. Meanwhile, Clark has raised less than $25,000, including a $5,000 personal loan, since launching his campaign in May.
As of Feb. 17, Clark had little more than $9,000 in available cash, far less than the $395,000 Boliek had at his disposal, according to state campaign filings.
13th Congressional District Developments
In North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District runoff, former federal prosecutor Brad Knott, has won over several of his past primary opponents in his quest to defeat attorney Kelly Daughtry. The district leans heavily conservative, effectively making the GOP primary victor the next member of Congress.
Since the March 5 primary, Knott has secured the support of the third, fifth, and sixth place finishers in the 14-candidate field. The fourth place finisher, DeVan Barbour, hasn’t endorsed in the race.
On Friday, the third place finisher, businessman Fred Von Canon, announced his support of Knott.
"Brad Knott will vote the most conservative,” Von Canon said in a statement. “And when all is said and done, that’s what matters the most to me.”
The fifth and sixth place finishers, Josh McConkey and Kenny Xu, have also backed Knott.
🗳️ Can you vote in runoffs?
All registered Republicans can vote in the auditor’s runoff. Additionally, unaffiliated voters who either didn’t vote in the March 5 primary or who voted using a Republican ballot in the March 5 primary are also eligible.
Because registration of new voters isn’t permitted between the first and second primaries, same-day voter registration isn’t an option during early voting. However, individuals who become eligible to vote between the March 5 primary and the May 14 runoff are able to register and vote on Election Day (May 14).
Eligible voters can cast a ballot at any early voting site in their county. A list of early voting sites and hours is available here.
🧾 A win for journalism
When the new year hit in 2024, it marked an important moment for me. I was no longer subject to non-compete provisions that a former employer placed on me to prevent me from covering North Carolina politics for seven news organizations. Those restrictions prompted multiple news organizations interested in hiring me in 2023 to hit the pause button.
But with 2024 underway, I was no longer subject to any restrictions.
To mark the occasion, I penned my first op/ed in over six years, calling on all news organizations to stop being free speech hypocrites and to do away with non-competes.
“News outlets that publicly espouse values of free speech and public access to information ought to first look in the mirror and embrace those values from within,” I wrote. “Anything less is grossly hypocritical. If they won’t get rid of non-compete provisions on their own, the public ought to demand that they do.”
This past week, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule that would ban noncompetes nationwide, including in TV station hiring contracts.
Press Corps Update
Earlier this month, a group of individuals within the 23-member North Carolina Capitol Press Corps Standing Committee held a private meeting in which they denied my request for a permanent credential through Anderson Alerts.
There was no cited reasoning, no shared list of attendees and no disclosed vote count. When I was informed of the decision, I was told without explanation that the group internally decided to keep the attendance and voting information private.
I wanted to provide a brief update: I’ll still be able to attend floor sessions through visitor passes, meaning access to lawmakers hasn’t changed for me. The only thing that has: extra logistics in getting into the General Assembly.
🎙️Week ahead
Monday at 8:35 a.m.: Will be speaking with Nick Craig on Wilmington’s Morning News about the short session.
Monday morning: Will be speaking with WFAE’s Marshall Terry about the legislative short session, the latest on casinos and more.
Thursday: Will be making a podcast appearance to talk about the state of journalism. As you’ll hear, I got candid on non-competes, press corps credentialing and public records access. More on that to come.
Friday at 10 a.m.: Will be joining WUNC’s Weekly Roundup panel on the “Due South” program hosted by Jeff Tiberii
🐦 Tweet of the Week
📖 5 essential reads
The Fading Star: The nation’s biggest media behemoths have left Wilmington’s flagship newspaper a diminished version of its former self. (Johanna F. Still // The Assembly)
The State Faces a Looming Budget Shortfall. Is Gambling the Answer? (Bryan Anderson // The Assembly)
911 Call Raises Questions About Accident at Rep. Destin Hall’s Wedding Weekend (Jeffrey Billman // The Assembly)
Planned Parenthood plans 'unprecedented' $10M North Carolina campaign as abortion battles loom (Colin Campbell // WUNC)
Judge strikes down North Carolina law on prosecuting ex-felons who voted before 2024 (Gary Robertson // The Associated Press)
👀 What to watch for
This week, I’ll have a couple stories you won’t want to miss. To read all alerts in their entirety, you can subscribe here.