Contested primaries emerge. Will Stein weigh in?
As candidates enter the primary, Gov. Josh Stein will weigh whether to become involved.
If you want to stay up to date on candidate filings as they occur, I’ve got a running spreadsheet here that you can bookmark.
We begin today with an updated look at the latest candidate filings and three things you should know…
1. Will Stein weigh in on primaries?
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper essentially pushed out Democratic state Sen. Kirk deViere of Cumberland County in 2022 by endorsing a primary challenge from Val Applewhite. Since then, deViere has become a verb in Raleigh lingo that means primarying an incumbent.
While there are still two weeks of candidate filing ahead, we’re already seeing some early signs of contentious primaries.
Thus far, Democratic incumbents Carla Cunningham of Mecklenburg County and Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe County face primary challenges from the left. Cunningham and Willingham bucked Stein by voting to override vetoes he had issued this year and are the legislature’s most conservative-voting Democrats.
Meanwhile, Rep. Rodney Pierce of Halifax County faces a rematch with former Rep. Michael Wray, a conservative Democrat Pierce narrowly defeated in last year’s primary.
Finally, Rep. Amanda Cook of Guilford County faces multiple primary challengers. (Stein signed off last month on Cook filling the vacancy left by Rep. Cecil Brockman.)
Seeing as it’s Stein’s first election cycle with the bully pulpit of his office, I asked him at a news conference this week whether he’d endorse in the four known contested Democratic primaries.
