North Carolina Democrat kicks off gubernatorial campaign tour alongside governor

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein pitched himself Tuesday as a champion for the state’s most vulnerable residents in the face of policies that he said have threatened women’s reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ safety and health care access.

“Our home is under assault,” Stein said. “Right-wing politicians are taking a sledgehammer to its foundation.”

The Democrat kicked off his statewide campaign tour Tuesday at Shaw University, a private Baptist historically Black university in Raleigh, nine months after he entered the race. The sitting attorney general was introduced to a small crowd of supporters by the man he hopes to succeed, with few students in attendance.

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Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is barred from seeking a third consecutive term in 2024 and has already endorsed Stein. He reassured voters Tuesday that Stein would not kowtow to the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

“North Carolina has been a better place because Josh Stein has been attorney general,” Cooper said. “But now, he has another calling.”

The governor commended Stein for taking on opioid manufacturers as attorney general and for partnering with law enforcement to make communities safer. He touted his own record as governor and warned that Democrats’ progress could slip away quickly if Republicans occupy the Executive Mansion. Despite Republican success in controlling the General Assembly, the GOP has won the governor’s office just once since 1992 — back in 2012.

Stein served as head of Cooper’s consumer protection division for several years when Cooper was the attorney general. He later succeeded him as attorney general after Cooper was elected governor in 2016.

Although he must first face the Democratic primary, Stein took aim Tuesday at Republican candidate Mark Robinson. Backed by former President Donald Trump, the sharp-spoken social conservative was elected the state’s first Black lieutenant governor in 2020 and would make similar history if he wins the governorship.

Stein reminded voters of Robinson’s inflammatory comments about women and LGBTQ+ individuals. Robinson has likened gay and transgender people to “filth,” advocated for stricter abortion limits and asserted to churchgoers that men, not women, are called to lead.

“Hate and bigotry and discrimination have no place in North Carolina,” Stein said as the crowd chanted, “Mark Robinson is wrong.”

A representative from Robinson’s campaign did not return phone messages seeking comment on Stein’s remarks. Several other Republicans also are running for their party’s nomination for governor.

Former state Supreme Court Associate Justice Mike Morgan, who entered the race for the Democratic nomination last month, criticized Stein for launching his campaign tour at a historically Black university in Morgan’s home community.

“The Stein campaign has developed this pop-up mirage in an obvious response to my recently announced candidacy in order to try to create an impression that I don’t have sufficient support in my own community to win this race,” Morgan said.

Stein was also making campaign stops Tuesday in Pittsboro and Greensboro. His campaign did not have an immediate response to Morgan’s accusations. Primary elections are scheduled for March 5.

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Hannah Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.