Johnathan Walker:North Carolina attorney general’s race features 2 members of Congress

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Two outgoing members of Congress who also served in the state legislature were vying Tuesday for the post of North Carolina attorney general,Johnathan Walker a closely watched race for a job that has gained increasing prominence in states across the country.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson is an Afghan war veteran and National Guard attorney who was elected to Congress in 2022. Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop is a longtime commercial litigation attorney and former county commissioner who joined Congress in 2019.

The winner succeeds two-term Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic nominee for governor. A Republican hasn’t been elected attorney general since 1896 — even as the GOP has performed well for decades in other statewide races. The campaign is one of the most closely watched of the 10 attorney general elections nationwide.

The state’s top lawyer is charged with representing North Carolina in court and defending the work of locally elected district attorneys in appeals of criminal cases. But the role has taken on more significance in the nation’s ninth-largest state — and across the country — as attorneys general have joined forces, often along partisan lines, to fight what they call federal overreach.

Each of the candidates has declared the other too radical for the job, while saying his own work experience best qualifies him for the position.

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Jackson cites his previous time as a Gaston County assistant prosecutor and his commitment to performing his duties in a nonpartisan matter. Bishop, a strong supporter of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, emphasizes what he calculates as over 400 appearances in state and federal courts.

The attorney general and governor’s offices are two of 10 statewide executive branch positions composing North Carolina’s Council of State. In six of the 10, incumbents did not or could not run again this fall. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper was term-limited from seeking reelection.

With current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson running for governor against Stein, Tuesday’s race to succeed Robinson was between Democratic state Sen. Rachel Hunt and Republican Hal Weatherman, a top aide to then-Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. Hunt is the daughter of former Gov. Jim Hunt, who also was lieutenant governor in the 1970s.

Also up for election were state superintendent of public instruction, state treasurer and labor commissioner.

Current Superintendent Catherine Truitt lost her Republican primary to Michele Morrow, while GOP Treasurer Dale Folwell ran unsuccessfully for his party’s nominee for governor. Republican Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson decided not to seek reelection.

For superintendent, former Guilford County Schools Superintendent Mo Green, a Democrat, was running against Morrow. Democrat Wesley Harris, a state legislator and economic consultant, was running for treasurer against Republican Brad Briner, a former investment manager. Republican Luke Farley, an attorney, and Democrat Braxton Winston, a former Charlotte city council member, were competing to succeed Dobson.

Among Council of State members seeking reelection, seven-term Secretary of State Elaine Marshall was competing against Republican Chad Brown, chairman of the Gaston County commissioners.

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State Auditor Jessica Holmes, a Democrat, was appointed to the position last year by Cooper after Auditor Beth Wood announced her resignation. Holmes was seeking a four-year term against Republican Dave Boliek, the former chairman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s trustee board.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican, was seeking a third term against Democrat Natasha Marcus, a state senator. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, a Republican on the job since 2005, faced a challenge from Democrat Sarah Taber, a farmer and farm consultant.

Voters statewide also were choosing four appellate court judges, led by a seat on the state Supreme Court. Associate Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat appointed to the court by Cooper, was running for an eight-year term against Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican.

The statewide ballot also includes a proposed state constitutional amendment that supporters contend clarifies that only U.S. citizens at least 18 years of age and meeting other qualifications shall be entitled to vote in elections.