Shelane Etchison broke gender barriers in Afghanistan and Syria. Now shes’s running to break the two-party system.
Jim Morrill
Jim Morrill covered politics and government for The Charlotte Observer for 39 years. Follow him on X @jimmorrill.
Posted inPolitics & Government
Jim Hunt’s Daughter Tries to Win In a New North Carolina
Rachel Hunt will have to navigate a state that is much different from when her father dominated.
Posted inElections
McHenry Opens A New Path to Washington
U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry’s retirement boosts the chances of Tim Moore, the long-time state House speaker.
Posted inPolitics & Government
The Troubled Last Days of Speaker Tim Moore
As he moves toward finishing an unprecedented 10-year reign, the House speaker leaves a complicated legacy.
Posted inPolitics & Government
What’s Behind Tricia Cotham’s Democratic Divorce
She says Democrats drove her away. Her former allies are puzzled—and say Cotham doesn’t seem to be the same person they knew before.
Posted inHealth
A Prescription for Rural Hospitals
Legislators are lurching toward expanding Medicaid, which would boost the state’s ailing rural hospitals.
Posted inPolitics & Government
Thom Tillis and the Art of the Deal
With his next reelection campaign four long years away, North Carolina’s soon-to-be senior senator has emerged as a bipartisan dealmaker. Back home, his party’s conservative wing doesn’t like it.
Posted inPolitics & Government
Cheri Beasley’s Record Is On Trial
The U.S. Senate candidate and former chief justice of the state Supreme Court touts her independence as a jurist. Republicans are taking aim.
Posted inElections
Pat McCrory’s New Game
The former Charlotte mayor and governor considers himself a Reagan Republican and believes in “constructive conservatism.” Now, as he runs for the U.S. Senate against a Trump-endorsed candidate, the ground has shifted—and he’s trying to find his footing.
Posted inMedia
On Guard in Asheville
The Asheville Watchdog is powered by a cadre of accomplished journalists who retired to the North Carolina mountains. The staff’s investigative reporting has made a splash, and they’d like it to be a model—but it’s unclear whether their startup can be duplicated.
