WHAT THEY’RE READING: Student Newspapers Across NC Highlight Josh Stein As “Obvious Choice” For Governor 

Wake Forest Student: “We must decide if we want a governor who is focused on solving real problems or one who prioritizes stoking culture wars.”

Across North Carolina, students are making their voices heard about the stakes of the 2024 gubernatorial election and underscoring the clear choice between a “governor who is focused on solving real problems or one who prioritizes stoking culture wars.”

In their endorsement of Attorney General Josh Stein, the Daily Tar Heel Editorial Board highlights Stein’s “genuine platform with concrete ideas for the betterment of North Carolina,” including addressing youth mental health, resilient infrastructure, and public education. Another UNC-Chapel Hill student praises Josh’s commitment to defending voting rights and his track record of “consistently plac[ing] the interests of the people ahead of political gamesmanship.”

With less than two weeks until Election Day, students are united around a key message: “Stein has spent his whole life making the lives of his constituents better and working across the aisle to do so.” 

UNC Charlotte’s Niner Times and Wake Forest’s Old Gold & Black also showcase the threat Mark Robinson poses to North Carolina, including his goal to “make abortion illegal at’ zero weeks’ and history of spreading hateful rhetoric, “calling queer people ‘filth’” and “calling himself a ‘black Nazi’ on racial porn sites.”

Read more from student journalists below: 

Daily Tar Heel: The Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2024 North Carolina general election

• In a race marred by scandals, Josh Stein is the obvious frontrunner.
  
• With polls showing a significant double-digit lead for Stein, he posits gun violence as a mental health crisis, advocates for infrastructure that anticipates future natural disasters and emphasizes the importance of prioritizing public education with taxpayer dollars — issues that are fundamental to a UNC student.
  
• His opponent, Mark Robinson, has spent his months making sexist, homophobic, transphobic and antisemitic comments.
  
• Stein presents a genuine platform with concrete ideas for the betterment of North Carolina. 

Daily Tar Heel: Op-ed: Voting for Josh Stein is crucial for the future of North Carolina’s democracy

• He’s fought groundbreaking legal battles to protect Black voters in northeastern North Carolina from illegal gerrymandering. 

• Attorney General Stein has consistently placed the interests of the people ahead of political gamesmanship. As students, we can trust that he will continue to defend our right to participate in our democracy.
  
• By voting for leaders like Stein, we can ensure that North Carolina protects everyone’s right to vote and that every citizen, regardless of race, gender, income or student status, has an equal say in shaping our shared future. From Oct. 17 through Election Day on Nov. 5, we have the opportunity to vote for the future of North Carolina, and for our democracy — vote with pride.

Niner Times: Opinion: It’s easy to vote against Mark Robinson but Josh Stein is a candidate you can be proud to vote for

• As attorney general, Stein has led his Department of Justice in securing $50 billion to help with the opioid crisis nationwide and led law enforcement in keeping local communities safe. He also wrote the School Safety Act and the Identity Theft Protection Act, which helped keep kids safe online and kept interest rates fair. 

• He also won over $3.2 billion from scam artists while in office and won back more than $295 million in restitution for Medicaid fraud. Stein also worked to take on the nation’s most considerable backlog of untested rape kits bringing justice to the victims and putting criminals behind bars. Piling on to historic success, Stein led the most extensive coal ash cleanup in the country’s history and got it paid for with a $1.1 billion settlement from Duke Energy to pay for the cleanup. Stein has done nothing but bring success and safety to the state.

• Meanwhile, Robinson has yet to do much as lieutenant governor. Robinson was absent from many meeting sessions. State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who serves on many of the same committees as Robinson, went as far as to say that Robinson was “the most absent elected official in my 16 years in Raleigh.” 

• Robinson has said that abortion came down to “killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down,” called gay and transgender people “filth,” and wrote that “Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few.”
  
• It is easy to vote against Robinson, but Stein would be a strong candidate for your vote even if his opponent were average. Stein has been a strong advocate for N.C. residents in past positions and will continue to do so as the state’s next governor. 

Wake Forest Old Gold and Black: Josh Stein is the obvious choice for governor

• For those of you who have no idea who Robinson is, strap in because this man is quite the character. Robinson’s greatest hits include calling queer people “filth,” claiming that abortion exists because women aren’t responsible enough to keep their skirts down and calling himself a “black Nazi” on racial porn sites. Unfortunately, these quotes only scratch the surface of all of the horrific things Robinson has said about our fellow North Carolinians. Fortunately, we, as young voters, have a great alternative option: someone committed to public service and dedicated to strengthening our state.

• As attorney general, Stein cleared the largest backlog of untested sexual assault kits in the country, allowing the evidence from these kits to be used in investigations and putting perpetrators behind bars. He led a bipartisan group of attorneys general nationwide to sue drug companies that fueled the opioid crisis, winning a settlement worth over $50 billion. Nearly $1.5 billion was given to North Carolina to “fund addiction prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction programs.” Furthermore, Stein has aggressively prosecuted businesses found to be price-gouging during states of emergency and taking advantage of people’s desperation. Stein’s record as attorney general has been stellar, safeguarding our rights and making sure North Carolina lives up to its promise of opportunity and justice, something he will continue to do as governor.
  
• Whether it’s his work ending the biggest sexual assault backlog kit in the nation or holding drug companies accountable for their role in the opioid crisis, Stein will work for you. Wake Forest students, we must decide if we want a governor who is focused on solving real problems or one who prioritizes stoking culture wars. The path forward is clear: Josh Stein is the obvious choice to lead us into a brighter future.