RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson was elected North Carolina’s next attorney general on Tuesday, defeating Republican congressman Dan Bishop in an expensive campaign focused on who was best able to represent the state in court and keep communities safe.
Jackson, an Afghan war veteran and National Guard attorney who has gained a large following on social media, will succeed two-term Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, who successfully ran for governor on Tuesday.
Jackson said his experience as a prosecutor — he worked as an assistant district attorney in Gaston County — and his commitment to perform his duties in a nonpartisan matter made him most qualified to become the state’s top law enforcement official. Jackson said he would work to counter the fentanyl overdose epidemic and combat scammers now using artificial intelligence techniques to fool consumers.
Bishop, a Republican who joined Congress in 2019 and is a strong supporter of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, accused Jackson of being soft on crime and antagonistic to police at a time when violent crime rates have risen over the past decade. Jackson had said Bishop, who conceded the race in a Tuesday night speech, was too extreme for the post.
Jackson and Bishop served together in the state legislature, where Bishop was known in part for shepherding a 2016 law that banned cities from enacting new anti-discrimination ordinances and required transgender people to use public restrooms that corresponded with the sex on their birth certificate.
Jackson was elected to Congress in 2022 but didn’t seek reelection because redistricting by the General Assembly placed him in a heavily GOP district.
Despite party nominees performing well in statewide races for decades, a Republican hasn’t been elected to the post of attorney general in North Carolina since 1896. Bishop and Jackson's committees, along with interest groups, spent well over $33 million on television and online advertising during the general election campaign, according to data from AdImpact, which monitors campaign spending.
In addition to governor and attorney general, elections were held Tuesday for the eight other statewide executive branch positions that compose the Council of State.
Four Council of State members sought reelection, including Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, a Republican on the job since 2005. He defeated Democrat Sarah Taber, a farmer and farm consultant.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican, won a third term, defeating Democrat Natasha Marcus, a state senator. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and State Auditor Jessica Holmes, both Democrats, remained in close races with Republican opponents.
Marshall, who was first elected to the job in 1996, was competing against Chad Brown, chairman of the Gaston County commissioners.
Holmes was appointed auditor last year by Gov. Roy Cooper after Auditor Beth Wood announced her resignation in the wake of charges against her related to her government-owned vehicle. 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.
Also up for election Tuesday 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.
In the race to succeed Dobson, Republican Luke Farley, an attorney, defeated Democrat Braxton Winston, a former Charlotte city council member. And succeeding Folwell will be Republican Brad Briner, a former investment manager, who defeated Democrat Wesley Harris, a state legislator and economic consultant.
For superintendent, the race remained close between former Guilford County Schools Superintendent Mo Green, a Democrat, and Morrow, who attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington before the attack on the U.S. Capitol and has called public schools liberal “indoctrination centers.”
With current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson running for governor against Stein, Tuesday’s race to succeed Robinson remained close 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.
For a seat on the state Supreme Court, Associate Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat appointed to the court last year by Cooper, was running in a close race for an eight-year term against Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican. Five of the seven current justices are registered Republicans.
North Carolina voters on Tuesday also overwhelmingly approved a proposed constitutional amendment that supporters contended clarifies that only U.S. citizens at least 18 years of age and meeting other qualifications shall be entitled to vote in elections.
Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press