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NC voters approve all 3 constitutional amendments on ballot

North Carolina voters approved all three constitutional amendments on the ballot Tuesday. The amendments authorize lawmakers to impose limits on local governments’ power to raise property taxes, cap the state income tax, and require photo ID for all voters — not just those voting in person. The controversial…

Democrats appear to win the NC House majority and gain seats in the Senate

In a huge upset Tuesday night, Democrats appeared to win the majority in the North Carolina House, with Democratic candidates scoring stunning victories in districts held by influential, veteran Republicans. Democrats have not controlled a chamber of the General Assembly since 2010, when Republicans won majorities in…

Democrats sweep Triangle area legislative races

Strong Democratic turnout turned the Triangle’s legislative delegation solid blue Tuesday night, unseating two Republican House members and a Republican senator in a neighboring county. Voters in southern Wake County opted to flip House District 37, electing newcomer Winn Decker and sending home Republican Rep. Erin…

Strong Democratic turnout flips at least 5 US House seats across North Carolina

In unofficial results from election night, North Carolina voters appear to have ousted at least half of North Carolina’s Republican U.S. House delegation in a string of upset elections in what were drawn to be safe Republican seats. Rep. Richard Hudson, 9th Congressional District incumbent and National Republican…

Democratic Justice Anita Earls wins reelection to the NC Supreme Court

North Carolina voters reelected Democratic Justice Anita Earls to the state Supreme Court Tuesday. She defeated Republican challenger Sarah Stevens, a former state lawmaker and longtime attorney. At the same time, three Court of Appeals contests helped determine whether Republicans would further consolidate their…

Democrat Jamie Ager flips western North Carolina US House seat

Democrat Jamie Ager appears to have won North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, flipping the seat. Ager, the owner of Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview, defeated state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, a Republican from Hendersonville, at 57% to 41% with all precincts reporting in unofficial results from the state Board of…

Cooper becomes first Democrat to win US Senate race in NC since 2008

Former Gov. Roy Cooper has secured North Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat, becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate election in the Tar Heel State since 2008. He appears to have defeated Republican Michael Whatley by nearly 20 points, 59% to 39%, in unofficial returns as of midnight Tueesday. The Associated Press called…

Democrats win sizable US House majority amid sweep of close races

WASHINGTON — Democrats will regain control of the U.S. House early next year, after voters throughout the country rejected the policies that Republicans and President Donald Trump implemented during the last two years. The Associated Press, which States Newsroom looks to for the projected winner of congressional…

Black, Hispanic, Asian early voter turnout in North Carolina outpaces 2022 midterms

Black voters in North Carolina turned out for early voting at a higher rate than white voters in this year’s midterm election, reversing a trend from recent cycles, according to an analysis by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. About 39% of registered Black voters cast ballots during the in-person early voting…

Party control of state leadership could flip across the country

While much of the national attention on today’s midterm elections has focused on control of Congress, voters across the country will also choose which party controls the levers of state power. Across the states, more than 6,000 legislative seats are up for grabs, leaving the partisan control of numerous chambers…

As Election Day arrives, Democrats poised to see gains and pump brakes on Trump agenda

WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of Americans have already cast a ballot in the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress and shape President Donald Trump’s remaining policy agenda. As of Monday, more than 57 million Americans had cast a vote, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab…

US Supreme Court rejects Trump DOJ’s attempt to freeze California vote counting

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, mere hours before Election Day in the midterms that will determine control of Congress, denied the Trump administration’s final attempt to force California to set aside the ballots of 20,000 people it suspects are noncitizens. The decision marked a significant blow to President Donald…

Trump promotes Reflecting Pool renovation the day before the election

WASHINGTON — One day before his party is forecast to lose control of the U.S. House, and possibly the Senate, President Donald Trump gathered guests and press at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to tout the “magnificent” renovation of the monument — a monthslong project plagued by algae, reclosure and false…

Caring for aging parents is getting more expensive

Costs are soaring for people who care for their older parents and other family members, according to a new study. Out-of-pocket expenses are nearly 60% higher than they were just five years ago for family caregivers, who now spend an average of $11,508 a year on caregiving, according to a report released last week by

Commentary: New numbers expose conservative ‘tough on crime’ hypocrisy

Crime. For decades, it’s long been a tried-and-true election tactic of the American political right to campaign under the “get tough on crime” banner. The model was cynically perfected during the 1988 presidential campaign in the infamous and racially charged “Willie Horton” ads crafted by supporters of then-Vice…

Michigan Democrats rally behind El-Sayed as Stevens goes rogue to support Rogers

DETROIT — Key Democrats said Sunday they would not let Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers divide the party ahead of Tuesday’s election. Stevens, a sitting member of Congress, was all but formally exorcized by her party after she publicly endorsed Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers over…

Explosive spending, ugly ads and courtroom battles set stage for tense midterm elections

WASHINGTON — When the polls close Tuesday night, the 2026 U.S. election will go down as one of history’s most expensive and extraordinarily ugly midterms — galvanizing record-breaking early voter turnout among a deeply divided electorate. Voters on Saturday crossed the high-water mark of 52.7 million early votes cast…

Trump loses appeals over California ballots, Homeland Security operations

A federal appeals court on Friday denied a Trump administration demand that California set aside and not count the ballots of 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters, setting the stage for a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a U.S…

Federal subpoenas to election officials mark escalating Trump DOJ pressure campaign

As the Trump administration waged a public legal fight with California over the ballots of suspected noncitizen voters in mid-October, behind the scenes a federal grand jury in Santa Ana issued a series of subpoenas to election officials in Los Angeles County at federal prosecutors’ urging. The subpoenas demanded a…

In a blizzard of lawsuits, Trump’s DOJ battles across the US over midterm elections

The Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to combat noncitizen voting and assert authority over elections came under intense scrutiny in courtrooms across the country on Thursday, as Democrats and voting rights groups alleged federal election interference. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the U.S…

Commentary: Handing out ballots and counting them up

“Low visibility ahead,” a Google Maps alert read one recent morning as I drove west on U.S. 421 toward Yadkin County for a meeting of the county board of elections. And sure enough, when I hit the bridge to cross the muddy Yadkin, a soft fog hung over the river, the effect of cool morning

Early voting sets midterms record, breaking 2022 mark

WASHINGTON — As of early Friday, more than 46 million Americans had cast ballots ahead of Election Day, eclipsing the early voting turnout of the 2022 midterms, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. In the 2022 midterm elections, 45.9 million Americans voted early, according to the UF Election Lab…

Trump will hold in-person rallies in Iowa and Kansas after all as election nears

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend are back on after initial cancellations, States Newsroom confirmed Friday. The Midwest rallies mark the final sprint to Election Day on Nov. 3 — now just four days away — where the GOP is itching to maintain its narrow majority in the U.S.

Election officials brace for federal interference but expect to persevere

As concerns rise about the potential for federal influence over the results of next week’s midterm elections, many voting experts and advocates remain confident that the nation’s highly localized systems of administering and counting votes will persevere. Facing sinking approval ratings over high prices, the White…

Worrisome domestic violence statistics aren’t declining in NC

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. But a new report this month shows North Carolina isn’t making much headway on the problem. In 2025, more than 63,000 people in North Carolina reported being victims of a crime committed by current or former spouses, partners or family members, according to a report…

Federal prosecutors announce more indictments in NC for illegal voting

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced it has indicted 18 more people living in North Carolina with voting illegally in 2024. Two weeks ago, on the first day of early voting, the Justice Department announced the indictments of 10 people on charges of voting illegally in the state. Seventeen of the people…

New campaign aims to help NC Medicaid recipients keep coverage under new rules

A new campaign launching in North Carolina aims to help Medicaid recipients navigate upcoming federal requirements and avoid losing coverage because of confusing paperwork or reporting rules. Keep Your Care, a national campaign focused on helping people maintain Medicaid coverage, launched its North Carolina effort…

2026 ballot measures are written at a graduate-school reading level, report finds

This year’s statewide ballot measures are written, on average, at a graduate-school reading level, according to a new report. The readability of 2026’s ballot questions — which ask voters to weigh in on issues as varied as abortion, property taxes, voter ID and firearms — varies by state, political data tracking…

Trump cancels weekend Kansas and Iowa rallies 5 days ahead of election

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday is canceled, the Kansas Republican Party confirmed to States Newsroom. An appearance scheduled for Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, was also canceled, the Republican National Committee said in a late Thursday press release. In-person rallies packed…

Where are the tightest races for US House control right now? Here’s the rundown.

WASHINGTON — Communities throughout the country have been inundated with television ads and outside spending as politicians try to spur voter turnout in the most competitive U.S. House races in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The focus on a short list of campaigns highlights how much power voters in a small number of…

College students in swing states rally against off-campus voting sites, student ID bans

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Led by members of the marching band and Aggie and Aggietha, the North Carolina A&T State University mascots, hundreds of students at the nation’s largest historically Black university walked 40 minutes from campus to the nearest early polling site on a recent afternoon. They started the journey with…

Prediction markets diverge from traditional polls in NC races as Election Day nears

With Election Day less than a week away, prediction markets are signaling strong chances for some North Carolina congressional candidates, even as some traditional polling remains uncertain. In North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, polls have consistently shown Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis and Republican…

DHS targeting naturalized Americans in voter investigations, civil rights groups say

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is unlawfully scrutinizing naturalized U.S. citizens and placing them at risk of disenfranchisement, civil rights groups alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday, less than a week before Election Day. The lawsuit, filed in California, came as Homeland Security asked for an emergency…

US Justice Department to send election monitors to these NC counties

U.S. Department of Justice election monitors will be in Wake, Alamance, and Mecklenburg counties on Election Day, according to the state Board of Elections. The Justice Department announced it would send monitors to every state as part of the largest monitoring effort in history, but did not disclose locations. The…

Time for change? Permanent daylight saving time bill awaiting US Senate action

Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether it will be the last time people have to change their clocks. President Donald Trump wants year-round daylight saving time. The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly in July for the change. Lots of Democrats…

Courts to decide fate of Trump’s latest push to control voting as Election Day nears

Less than a week before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s unprecedented drive for power over elections has set the stage for a series of courtroom fights that could quickly lead to a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over the limits of federal authority. Democrats and voting rights advocates have…

North Carolina joins ‘overcharging’ lawsuit against Dollar General

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 19 of his colleagues in other states announced Tuesday they’re suing Dollar General for overcharging customers. The bargain retailer is accused of raising prices for products at the register without updating sticker prices on shelves. At a press conference Tuesday…

Early voting surges in midterm elections as millions cast their ballots

WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of Americans have already made their way to the ballot box as early voting is underway in a midterm election that will determine control of the House and the Senate, possibly flipping one or both from Republicans to Democrats. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 34 million people have…

Trump’s DOJ sends 1,000 election monitors to 50 states; locations not yet disclosed

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send election monitors to every state ahead of Election Day, expanding a long-standing practice that’s spurred concern this year among Democrats and voting rights advocates because of President Donald Trump’s push to influence elections. The Justice Department for decades has…

NC Gov, AG call for data center owners to help pay for new power plants

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson called on state regulators Tuesday to require prospective data center developers to shoulder more of the cost for the additional power they’ll need — or to produce more of it themselves through renewable energy. The N.C. Utilities Commission has been…

900+ women criminally charged for their conduct during pregnancies

In the first three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, more than 900 women faced criminal charges for conduct related to their pregnancies, according to a new report. Most state laws that prohibit or regulate abortion seek to penalize those who provide…

Why the new progressive Democrats in Congress might unite with the old Dems, for now

PORTLAND, Ore. — The latest cosponsor of a U.S. House bill to provide single-payer health insurance defeated a Republican incumbent in a suburban and rural Oregon district by fewer than 10,000 votes two years ago. U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat now seeking her second term, doesn’t have the far-left profile of…

Vantage points: The view from where NC county election directors sit

In the first eight days of early voting, Wake County Election Director Olivia McCall has seen 70% higher turnout than in the 2022 midterm election. It’s “unprecedented,” she said. But it’s too early to tell whether the higher turnout foreshadows record-breaking overall turnout or excitement around early voting, she…

Rising prices squeeze more Americans ahead of pivotal midterm elections

Americans’ growing frustration over high prices has defined many political campaigns ahead of November’s midterm elections. Rising costs of healthcare, gas and groceries during President Donald Trump’s second term have put Republicans on defense, not only in Washington, but in statehouse and gubernatorial races across…

Mack Paul discusses “Miracle Road: The Story of Research Triangle Park”

One of the most successful public economic development projects in modern American history is North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. Nearly 70 years ago, when a collection of public officials, academics and business leaders unveiled their vision for RTP, the undeveloped region found between the towns of Raleigh…

‘We don’t want it’: Voter backlash against data centers consumes midterm elections

SPRINGDALE, Pa. — Residents in a small southwestern Pennsylvania town are facing the prospect of a 47-acre data center facility on their doorstep. “Right here behind this fence is where they want to put up the data center, and as you can see, there’s houses right across the street, roughly 100 feet,” said lifelong…

Federal regulators crack down on organ donation groups

Federal regulators are cracking down on the nonprofits responsible for coordinating organ donations, aiming to begin shutting down substandard groups by early next year. New criteria will score the organizations on donation and transplantation rates and will decertify the bottom tier, meaning their contracts with the…

Commentary: 3 ballot amendments would cost everyday North Carolinians dearly

Early voting has started, but North Carolina voters are hearing very little about three constitutional amendments tucked away at the end of the ballot. While the amendments are worded in a seemingly simple way, the three proposals are deceptive. Carolina Federation, an organization I co-lead, have spoken face to face…

Most US House races aren’t competitive. What does that mean for how lawmakers govern?

WASHINGTON — Fewer than 5% of U.S. House races are seen by a top political analysis as truly competitive heading into November’s midterm elections, giving relatively few voters the ability to determine which party controls the chamber for the next two years. The other 414 of 435 House districts are viewed by the…

Trump’s DOJ sues over Alaska Senate race, expanding preelection legal fights

The U.S. Department of Justice is stepping up its legal campaign over the midterm elections, suing Alaska over its U.S. Senate election and appealing a lawsuit against suspected noncitizen voters in California. Election law experts have cast doubt on the strength of the cases, criticizing them as performative. The…

The percentage of people without health insurance is growing

The percentage of working-age adults without health insurance has increased in the past two years, largely because many people can no longer afford Obamacare coverage after Congress allowed federal subsidies to expire at the end of last year. The uninsured rate for adults ages 19-64 rose to 11.2% this year, up from…

Denied a campus early voting site, NC A&T students again march to the polls

Hundreds of NC A&T State University students filled Greensboro streets Thursday for a 40-minute walk from their campus to an early voting site, partly to do their civic duty and partly as a show of strength. It was the second Greensboro student voter march this month, following an event last week that drew national…

Commentary: New treasurer, same State Health Plan mistakes

North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner says moving many Atrium Health providers and facilities out of network for the State Health Plan is just “behind the scenes bookkeeping,” and that members who choose Atrium can be “held harmless” by Atrium if it chooses to. That overlooks how the tiered plan works. Out-of-network…

Cost of employer-sponsored health insurance plans rises again, nonpartisan survey finds

WASHINGTON — The price health insurance companies charge for employer-sponsored plans increased again this year, as did the deductible many people must pay before those plans begin covering most healthcare costs, according to a survey released Thursday by the nonpartisan health organization KFF. The cost of individual…

Analysis: Trump deportations near 1M, but few are criminals

The current Trump administration claims its mass deportation efforts have expelled nearly a million people through July of this year, but those include both voluntary returns and people turned around at the border, according to a new analysis by the former chief statistician for the Department of Homeland Security…

A record number of women are running for state legislatures this year

A record number of women are running for state legislative seats this November, more than two-thirds of whom are Democrats. Across the 46 states with legislative seats on the ballot, a total of 3,824 women are running — up from 2022’s previous record of 3,621 women candidates, according to the Center for American…

Judge blocks Homeland Security from conducting election-related sweeps in 9 states

A federal judge on Wednesday night blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting election-related field operations that could sweep up U.S. citizens in nine states. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, an appointee of President Joe Biden in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, issued a…

E-bikes now rival motorcycles for speed. State and city laws haven’t caught up.

Earlier this month, a 50-year-old man riding his personal electric scooter in Washington, D.C., was killed when he collided with a woman on a rideshare scooter. In June, a 12-year-old Massachusetts girl died after her electric scooter slammed into a school bus in a suburb of Boston. And in April, an Atlanta woman…

Trump ties NC Camp Lejeune settlements to GOP win, angering survivors

GREENVILLE, N.C. — President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters Tuesday that his administration would direct the U.S. Department of Justice to settle remaining claims from veterans and family members sickened by contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, but would do so only if Republicans retain control of the…

US Supreme Court allows gender-affirming care for trans people in federal prisons

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to implement a rule that would terminate gender-affirming care for transgender people incarcerated in federal prisons. It means a lower court order that blocked the policy from going into effect will remain in place for…

City, state employees are proud of their work but face burnout, harassment

State and local government employees report high levels of job satisfaction across the country, but face significant rates of burnout and on-the-job harassment. That’s according to a new national survey of nearly 5,000 public servants across all 50 states released today by The People Lab at Harvard University’s…

Dems sue Trump, alleging election interference, as DOJ battles with California

National Democrats are suing President Donald Trump, accusing his administration of intimidating election officials and asking a federal court to block him from interfering in the midterm elections. The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in Washington, D.C., comes as the Trump administration mounts a highly public offensive…

New home completions are stuck at 2020 levels

Single-family home completions remain stuck at early pandemic levels as of September as costs, labor supply shortages and high interest take a toll on home builders, especially in the Northeast and South. Apartment building was a more mixed picture, down nationally but up sharply in the Midwest (53%) and West (18%)…

Early voting turnout so far shows enthusiasm among unaffiliated voters in NC

Early voting stats don’t predict Election Day winners, but the first few days of voting in North Carolina have produced a surprise – the eagerness among unaffiliated voters in North Carolina to cast ballots in a midterm election. In the first five days of early voting, Thursday through Monday, unaffiliated voters cast…

Cheaper manufactured homes could be having a moment, if only states can catch up

For decades, manufactured home builders have been working to shed the old image of boxy trailer homes reserved for the outskirts of cities and suburbia. Now, a small change in federal regulations could open the door for architecture welcomed in more neighborhoods. This summer’s sweeping housing bill, the 21st Century…

With 2 weeks until midterms, analysts say Dems still on track to win US House majority

Democrats have used President Donald Trump’s unpopularity to expand the midterm map, and analysts project the party carries momentum heading into the final two weeks of the election cycle, even as Democrats are expected to flip fewer U.S. House seats than wave elections this century. The Cook Political Report with Amy…

A federal judge lets North Carolina’s new absentee ballot rules stand

A federal court judge ruled against challengers of new absentee ballot requirements, saying the signature and envelope sealing requirements are not undue burdens. In a ruling late Monday, Federal District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder wrote that the challengers were not likely to win after a trial and denied their request…

NC state rep calls state’s new curbside voting warning signs ‘intimidating’

State Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, is concerned about the tone of curbside voting signs outside some North Carolina early voting sites, calling them “intimidating and threatening” and “possibly a violation of state law.” “Come on #SBOE [State Board of Elections], stop suppressing the vote. You can do better,”…

Commentary: A bluer NC could be in the offing

The association of modern American Republicans with the color red and Democrats with the color blue has always left me a tad perplexed and amused. For those of us old enough to remember significant chunks of the 20th Century, red was always the color of world communism and the far left. In the 1920s and

Floundering North Carolina fisheries agency endangers workers and wildlife

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. On a misty and breezy morning last fall, Marc Hamric, a North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries veteran, and two other technicians…

Trump heads to Greenville as NC Republicans struggle with early voter turnout

President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally Tuesday in Greenville, following an appearance Monday by Vice President JD Vance at the other end of the state in Hendersonville. They’re aiming to increase Republican voter turnout in two key Congressional races and North Carolina’s Senate contest. The high-profile…

Bear killings skyrocket as garbage, bird feeders draw them into conflict

Bears are having a very bad year. Across much of the United States, a warm winter and persistent drought have decimated the natural foods that black and brown bears rely on. With nearly every station at the buffet in short supply, the adaptable eaters are turning to human food. From California to Connecticut…

Ukrainians and Sudanese with temporary legal status will keep protections for now

WASHINGTON — Immigrants living in the United States with humanitarian status from Ukraine and Sudan will retain their deportation protections and work authorizations for now, the Department of Homeland Security said over the weekend. More than 100,000 Ukrainians and roughly 2,000 Sudanese with Temporary Protected…

Data centers are now the largest financial bet in US history

The sheer size of investment in data centers is drawing concern as it surpasses all other historical booms and crowds out other more job-creating ventures. Until now, no industry had driven the U.S. economy with such force since the railroad expansion of the late 1800s, when titans battled one another to lay the…