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Protecting abortion rights was the top issue for North Carolina's swing voters who participated in our latest Engagious/Schlesinger focus group.

Getting inflation under control was a close second.

Yes, but: Whether their feelings on those issues will drive them to the polls in the November midterms was less clear, especially considering many participants couldn’t name North Carolina's U.S. Senate candidates, Cheri Beasley and Rep. Ted Budd. 

Why it matters: Democrats hope that falling gas prices and voters energized by abortion restrictions will help them win congressional races in North Carolina and several other states in a year that's expected to be more favorable to Republicans. 

“Several North Carolina swing voters indicated that when the Court overturned Roe, it inserted a major new consideration into their political decision-making,” said Rich Thau, president of Engagious, who moderated the focus groups. “What remains to be seen is whether all their talk will be backed up by action at the ballot box.”

Driving the news: About halfway between the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the November midterms, Axios partner Engagious/Schlesinger conducted two online focus groups on Monday with 11 North Carolinians who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 then Joe Biden in 2020.

They ranged in location from Carteret County on the coast to Davie County near the foothills.

Eight participants are registered unaffiliated — two are Democrats, one is a Republican.

Of note: While a focus group is not a statistically significant sample like a poll, the responses show how some voters are thinking and talking about current events. Schlesinger recruits from a national panel of people willing to participate in qualitative research.

The participants also gave a snapshot of unaffiliated North Carolina voters, who now outnumber both Democrats and Republicans in the state.        

The big picture: Most were passionate about abortion and gas prices, while offering mixed views on gun control and student loan forgiveness, and ambivalence over the state of healthcare in N.C.

"I was registered as a Republican and I'm switching to Democrat. It's something that has upset me greatly," Alana P. of Carteret County said of the Supreme Court’s June decision in the abortion case.

Voter Russell T. of Forsyth County listed protecting a woman's right to abortion as his top issue, then protecting the Second Amendment and fighting for racial equity. He said he believes the Republican Party has historically been about keeping "less government in your life," but that changed after the Dobbs ruling.

Reality check: Few participants were engaged in North Carolina's U.S. Senate race. In fact:

8 of 11 saw a picture of Democratic candidate Cheri Beasley and said they could name her, while only 4 of 11 said they could name Republican Rep. Ted Budd after seeing a picture of him.

8 of the 11 said they were very likely to vote in the midterms. 

Also, 0 of 11 could name the person Beasley and Budd are vying to replace, Sen. Richard Burr, who's served as one of this state's two U.S. Senators for nearly 18 years. 

Between the lines: Unlike in recent focus groups in Florida and Wisconsin, none of the North Carolina swing voters said they regretted voting for Biden. Most said Biden lost their support early in the presidency but has gained some of it back in the past few months.

"We're starting to see what he promised us, a little bit at least," participant Kayla L. from Davie County said. 

When asked if their opinions on Biden would sway their vote in the Senate race, nobody said yes. But when asked if their opinions on former President Trump would sway their vote in the Senate race, however, several said yes.

Kayla L. said she saw that Trump was backing Budd: "I wouldn't vote for him just because of that."

Alana P. from Carteret County said she's still mad about Trump's pass-through visit to eastern N.C. after Hurricane Florence in 2018. "He didn't care and didn't want to help us at all. … But I also don’t like Budd for his slander. I think it should be an honest campaign."

http://www.engagious.com/

https://engagious.com/swingvoters/

Abortion is top of mind for some of N.C.'s Trump-Biden voters

Swing voters also spoke up about gas prices, gun control and studen loan forgiveness.

Illustration of a trampoline in the shape of North Carolina. 

2022 elections

Protecting abortion rights was the top issue for North Carolina&#x27;s swing voters who participated in our latest <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Engagious/Schlesinger" data-vars-click-url="https://engagious.com/swingvoters/" data-vars-content-id="09ead10f-6110-49b0-ac88-b2b35c2211e0" data-vars-headline="Abortion is top of mind for some of N.C.&#x27;s Trump-Biden voters" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://engagious.com/swingvoters/" target="_blank">Engagious/Schlesinger</a> focus group.<ul><li>Getting inflation under control was a close second.</li></ul>

News

A recently re-elected North Carolina sheriff resigned for the second time in three months after coming under fire for racist comments he made about employees.

Catch up quick: Columbus County sheriff Jody Greene resigned in October after a recorded phone call became public in which he said of two employees, "I'm sick of these Black bastards..." and "Every Black that I know, you need to fire him..."

But Greene remained on the November ballot and won re-election.

Minutes after he was sworn in on Dec. 29, District Attorney Jon David filed a petition to have him removed again, and sought to permanently disqualify him this time.

Driving the news: Greene’s attorney announced his second resignation at the beginning of a hearing for that petition Wednesday, following months of political pressure, WECT first reported.

Why it matters: While larger police departments nationwide confront racial disparities in hiring and enforcement of laws, Greene's comments created a firestorm in a rural area where a single elected official — the sheriff — holds outsized power.

He was the top law official in a county that’s 30% Black and sits in the southeastern corner of the state, an often-forgotten region more than 100 miles from urban centers Raleigh and Charlotte.

“Let me be clear, while elections are a popularity contest, constitutional rights belong to everyone, including the disenfranchised, including the people that do not have political power in the community," David said in a press conference Wednesday. 

The big picture: Greene’s comments came after his first election, in 2018, when he narrowly defeated a Black candidate for sheriff, Lewis Hatcher, by less than 40 votes. 

Hatcher challenged the election, saying Greene shouldn’t have been eligible because he didn’t actually live in the county.

A court appointed Jason Soles, a white man, as acting sheriff while elections officials investigated Greene’s residency. 

Soles told WECT last year that shortly after he took the interim job, he started receiving late-night calls from Greene complaining about Hatcher and fired sergeant Melvin Campbell, both of whom are Black.

"He made the comment that he hated Democrats," Soles told WECT. "And then he said, 'I take that back. I hate a Black f***ing Democrat.' And I knew right then, I was like, 'Wow, this is coming from the sheriff.' And I had to start recording those conversations."

The WECT story and the recordings prompted the district attorney to petition a judge to have Greene removed from office twice: Once, about a month before the election, and again after he won re-election. 

What they're saying: "Sadly, when the SBI got involved we learned that this phone call was just the tip of the iceberg," David said.

Flashback: This isn't the first time Greene has been scrutinized. In his first two years in office, the department accepted nearly $4 million in surplus military equipment, including helicopters and a mine resistant vehicle, WECT reported.

He also faced questions about involvement with the Oath Keepers after they publicly said they invited him to their Facebook page, but told the News & Reporter of Whiteville in 2020, "I’m not a member of the Oath Keepers nor have I been a member."

Between the lines: Columbus County borders Bladen, another rural and impoverished county that was the center of a major election fraud scandal that led state elections officials to overturn the results of the 2018 9th Congressional District race.

The central operative in that story, McCrae Dowless, also worked to help Greene get elected by less than 40 votes that same year. But national attention focused on Bladen because it involved a higher-profile congressional race.

Go deeper: The region has a history of racist law enforcement dating back to Reconstruction, as Axios’ Michael Graff and WBTV’s Nick Ochsner outlined in the 2021 book The Vote Collectors.

North Carolina sheriff out for racist remarks — again

Columbus County sheriff Jody Greene. Photo: Columbus County

North Carolina

A recently re-elected North Carolina sheriff resigned for the second time in three months after coming under fire for racist comments he made about employees.Catch up quick: Columbus County sheriff Jody Greene resigned in October after a recorded phone call became public in which he said of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="two employees" data-vars-click-url="https://www.wect.com/2022/09/28/sheriff-im-sick-these-black-bastards-every-black-that-i-know-you-need-fire-him/" data-vars-content-id="461ba56a-98cd-4148-b5ef-99be15db8e16" data-vars-headline="North Carolina sheriff out for racist remarks — again" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.wect.com/2022/09/28/sheriff-im-sick-these-black-bastards-every-black-that-i-know-you-need-fire-him/" target="_blank">two employees</a>, &quot;I&#x27;m sick of these Black bastards...&quot; and &quot;Every Black that I know, you need to fire him...&quot;

Hello, Triangle sports fans. Michael Graff here with a suggestion for your summer:

Join me in rooting for the Baltimore Orioles. And watch with joy the talents of Cedric Mullins, a Greensboro-born player who went to Louisburg College and Campbell University.

Why it matters: As a lifelong Orioles fan who moved to North Carolina from Maryland at 17, I'm qualified to tell you that we have lots of room on the Baltimore bandwagon.

One of baseball’s worst teams over the past 20 years, they have MLB's second-best record in 2023.

The intrigue: They’re young, fast, fearless and fun. They celebrate hits by acting like lawn sprinklers, home runs by slugging water through a funnel, and created a "bird bath” where fans get sprayed.

On the field, Mullins is a blast to watch: He's ranks in the top 10 in MLB in stolen bases, triples and RBIs.

On May 12, he hit for the cycle (click for bird bath fun). A week later he had five hits in a game against lesser birds (Blue Jays).

Not bad for a 5-foot-9 guy who was at the tiny two-year Louisburg in 2014, then batted .340 as a Campbell Camel in 2015, then was drafted in the 13th round, and worked his way up from there.

Plan a trip: Baltimore’s just a 5.5-hour drive away, and it’s highly underrated. Some tips:

Head to L.P. Steamers for a crab feast and Faidley's for a real crab cake.

Splurge on a room at the Ivy, and bask in the breakfast.

Get an orange crush at Mama’s on the Half Shell.

Save room for Boog’s pit beef at the game.

Or any of these other recommendations I pulled together once.

🧡 Lucille's thought bubble: My dad is from the Baltimore area, and, as a person who's had the privilege of hanging around that city often, I co-sign all of this.

Reading this is making me wish I was at Camden Yards with a crab cake in one hand and a beer in the other.

Hop on the Baltimore bandwagon

Cedric Mullins gets a Gatorade bath from his teammates after hitting for the cycle against the Pirates on May 12. Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Baseball

Hello, Triangle sports fans. Michael Graff here with a suggestion for your summer:<ul><li>Join me in rooting for the Baltimore Orioles. And watch with joy the talents of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Cedric Mullins" data-vars-click-url="https://www.mlb.com/player/cedric-mullins-656775" data-vars-content-id="ac0b80ee-58db-4f15-a277-ccaacf38f3cb" data-vars-headline="Hop on the Baltimore bandwagon" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.mlb.com/player/cedric-mullins-656775" target="_blank">Cedric Mullins</a>, a Greensboro-born player who went to Louisburg College and Campbell University.</li></ul>Why it matters: As a lifelong Orioles fan who moved to North Carolina from Maryland at 17, I&#x27;m qualified to tell you that we have lots of room on the Baltimore bandwagon.

Sports

A gunman killed a UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member in a laboratory building in the center of campus Monday, setting off a confusing and anxious three-hour lockdown at the university and nearby K-12 schools.

The latest: Campus officials and police confirmed in a Monday evening press conference that a person was taken into custody, but they did not identify that person or the faculty member who died. 

All UNC classes and activities were canceled for Monday night and all day Tuesday.

Zoom out: The shooting at Caudill Labs occurred on the first day of the university's second week of classes. It was also the first day for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

The initial 911 call reporting shots fired came in at 1:02pm, UNC Police Chief Brian James said, and lockdowns throughout the community soon followed. UNC didn't issue an all-clear until nearly 4:15pm.

In between, students took to social media to post videos and pictures, police detained and released a person who wound up not being the suspected shooter, and parents and community members refreshed their phones for updates.

Meanwhile, false social media posts and other uncorroborated reports only fueled fear, as Axios' Katie Peralta Soloff noted.

Zoom in: UNC issued an initial alert saying an "armed and dangerous person" on or near campus at 1:03pm, one minute after the 911 call.

Alerts asking students to shelter in place and stay away from windows began at 1:21pm.

James, the campus police chief, said police detained the suspected shooter at 2:31pm, nearly 90 minutes after the initial 911 call.

Four minutes later they posted a photo of a person of interest on social media.

But the shelter-in-place remained in effect — and UNC alerts continued to say the suspect was at large — until after 4pm. James said the delay was because police needed time to identify the shooter.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public Schools system posted that it had received the "all clear" to dismiss at 3:40pm.

Between the lines: Police and university officials didn't confirm that a shooting took place until the 5:45pm press conference.

The only official acknowledgement of a shooting during the afternoon hours came from Gov. Roy Cooper, whose office confirmed to Axios that a shooting occurred after issuing a statement pledging all state resources "to capture the shooter."

The big picture: The alerts sent the campus and surrounding areas into a state of uncertainty.

A large police presence centered on several lab buildings on South Road near the school's bell tower, one of the most photographed landmarks in the state.

And for many, the events brought back horrifying memories of Feb. 10, 2015, when three Muslim students — two UNC dentistry students and one N.C. State student — were killed in an off-campus house.

What they're saying: "This is a time for the community to come together," UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in the evening press conference. 

"These tragic events are sadly happening across the nation."

Axios' Katie Peralta Soloff contributed to this story.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details.

UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member killed in shooting that left community locked down for hours

Students were asked to shelter in place on Monday afternoon

The bell tower on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus. Credit: Photo: Eros Hoagland/Getty Images

A gunman killed a UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member in a laboratory building in the center of campus Monday, setting off a confusing and anxious three-hour lockdown at the university and nearby K-12 schools.The latest: Campus officials and police confirmed in a Monday evening press conference that a person was taken into custody, but they did not identify that person or the faculty member who died. <ul><li>All UNC classes and activities were canceled for Monday night and all day Tuesday.</li></ul>

The great North Carolina writer Philip Gerard died last week at 67. If you love this state and endeavor to know more about it, you’ve probably seen his work: 

He was an author, musician and UNC Wilmington professor.

He wrote “Cape Fear Rising” a historical novel about the 1898 coup in Wilmington.

His latest book, “North Carolina in the 1940s,” was published by Blair in August. 

And his exhaustive Our State series about the Civil War in North Carolina is without question the definitive account of the matter in this state.

I worked as Philip’s editor at Our State from 2009 to 2012. He taught me two things I’ll never forget:

One was a writing tip, from the Civil War series. He wrote the entire thing in the present tense in an effort to put readers in the place and time. When he’d write about a person who died in war, he’d try to piece together a scene from the night before, or week before.

They may be dead to us now, Philip thought, but through his research and words they become three-dimensional characters doing ordinary things — they brush their teeth; they read a book — unaware that they are hours from death.

The second was a life lesson. Around 2010 we sent him to interview someone who was downright rude to him. We editors were aghast: Who could be mean to Philip Gerard?

But Philip didn’t mind because, as he put it, “You never know where you enter someone’s story.” 

Remembering North Carolina writer Philip Gerard

The great North Carolina writer died last week at 67.

Portrait of Phillip Gerard posing in front of a desk and bookshelf

Philip Gerard. Photo courtesy of UNC Wilmington

obituaries

The great North Carolina writer Philip Gerard <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="died last week " data-vars-click-url="https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/11/09/wilmington-writer-and-uncw-professor-philip-gerard-dies-at-67/69631066007/" data-vars-content-id="ddf20fed-0cd7-4ba1-83ec-ad46ee705e53" data-vars-headline="Remembering North Carolina writer Philip Gerard" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/11/09/wilmington-writer-and-uncw-professor-philip-gerard-dies-at-67/69631066007/" target="_blank">died last week </a>at 67. If you love this state and endeavor to know more about it, you’ve probably seen his work: <ul><li>He was an author, musician and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="UNC Wilmington professor" data-vars-click-url="https://uncw.edu/news/2022/11/uncw-mourns-the-passing-of-faculty-member-philip-gerard.html" data-vars-content-id="ddf20fed-0cd7-4ba1-83ec-ad46ee705e53" data-vars-headline="Remembering North Carolina writer Philip Gerard" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://uncw.edu/news/2022/11/uncw-mourns-the-passing-of-faculty-member-philip-gerard.html" target="_blank">UNC Wilmington professor</a>.</li><li>He wrote “<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Cape Fear Rising" data-vars-click-url="https://www.amazon.com/Cape-Fear-Rising-Philip-Gerard/dp/0895871653" data-vars-content-id="ddf20fed-0cd7-4ba1-83ec-ad46ee705e53" data-vars-headline="Remembering North Carolina writer Philip Gerard" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Cape-Fear-Rising-Philip-Gerard/dp/0895871653" target="_blank">Cape Fear Rising</a>” a historical novel about the 1898 coup in Wilmington.</li></ul>

Michael Graff

Featured stories

UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member killed in shooting that left community locked down for hours

Hop on the Baltimore bandwagon

North Carolina sheriff out for racist remarks — again

Remembering North Carolina writer Philip Gerard

Abortion is top of mind for some of N.C.'s Trump-Biden voters