Welcome back to the Old North State Update. This is edition #18 for 2026.
GENERAL NEWS
ICYMI - Yesterday was the union-led protest holiday “May Day”
Unions and far left groups protested nationally, led by “May Day Strong.“ That included the NC Association of Educators, who have hitched their protest “Kids over Corporations” protest to the national events, all of which appear to be just another iteration of the anti-Trump protests we’ve seen over the past year.
Around 700,000 kids are estimated to be out of school today from around 22 school districts after deciding to close their doors for instruction after being unable to fill classrooms with teachers who requested personal time to protest.
I spoke to WBT’s Brett Jensen yesterday about the protest, which drew a far smaller crowd than the NCAE’s 2019 protest.
SPLC CEO called to testify
Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) indictment isn’t going away. House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has requested SPLC’s CEO and President Bryan Fair to come testify under oath on May 20.
In related news, the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias published a report “detailing how the Biden Administration’s prosecutions, policies, and practices demonstrated anti-Christian bias throughout the federal government, in accordance with Executive Order 14202.” Read the full release.
The U.S. Department of Education was heavily involved in this taskforce. Read the press release from that agency about the anti-Christian bias it found in K-12 and higher education.
Just the News has a related article, noting the task force found, “The Biden IRS … [opened] multiple investigations into Christian churches focused on the content of their sermons. The IRS asked these churches for detailed information about their operations, not just about the alleged violations."
NCGA
Another Mecklenburg House Democrat goes unaffiliated
Nasif Majeed’s office issued a statement on Monday, saying he was leaving the Democrat Party. In his statement, Majeed emphasized his decision comes amid growing concerns about “political practices.”
“Our community deserves leadership that is honest, accountable, and respectful of the democratic process,” Majeed stated. “I have witnessed and experienced actions within the political landscape that I believe could be perceived as misleading or inconsistent with the spirit of fair elections. I cannot, in good conscience, remain aligned where those concerns are not adequately addressed.”
Majeed’s defection follows his county counterpart Carla Cunningham’s announcement last week that she was dropping her Democrat affiliation for unaffiliated. Majeed, Cunningham and Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe were targeted by the Party for disloyalty, in particular, participating in successful veto overrides.
Check out my full story on Majeed’s party shift over at North State Journal.
Another Senate Democrat resigns
Sen. Terence Everitt announced he was resigning effective May 1 in a rather dramatic Facebook post. His resignation follows Graig Meyer’s a month ago. Read the full story over at North State Journal.
CONGRESS
“Unspecified Allegations”
We’ve entered the ‘anonymous source’ portion of the midterms news cycle. Here’s the article link mentioned below.
House Speaker Mike Johnson got a lot of legislation passed this week despite outlets like the Washington Post, Politico and others claiming GOP House member support for Johnson was fading. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) has had the best take — so far.
U.S. SENATE
Whatley gets a ‘Ruthless’ shoutout
Cooper got a Harris shoutout
See what former Vice President Kamala Harris had to say about Cooper during a book tour stop in Charlotte.
NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia responded, “Roy Cooper failed to stand up to his friend Kamala Harris’ reckless government spending that sent inflation to 9%. From healthcare to groceries, rent, and North Carolinians’ safety, Roy Cooper makes stuff cost more.”
Cooper’s subsidy deal with CCP-linked company blows up
Trump-era rules targeting Chinese influence in critical supply chains have forced the unwinding of a subsidized Chinese solar foothold in the U.S. that was backed by Cooper.
The Washington Free Beacon reported on Boviet Solar, a Vietnam-registered company that is actually a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s Boway Group with direct links to the Communist Chinese government is exiting its U.S. operations, including its heavily subsidized factory in Greenville, North Carolina.
Cooper aggressively recruited the firm in 2024 with a $32.6 million state and local tax incentive package to open a solar module factory expected to create 900 jobs. When Washington Free Beacon asked the Cooper campaign about Boviet, a spokesperson defended the deal:
“Roy Cooper successfully recruited major companies to our state to create thousands of jobs, lower energy bills, and put money in the pockets of working families while making North Carolina the best state for business three out of the last four years.”
Did Boviet’s big subsidy bring jobs? Yes and no.
In April 2024, Cooper said Boviet would bring 900 jobs. Officials revised that upward to 1,300 jobs once the plant was “fully operational.” In reality, when the plant had its grand opening in April 2025, Phase I created “over 300” jobs.
The other solar deal
Newsmax published an article about Cooper’s benefiting from a deal with Strata Solar during his first term as governor. The article is pretty weak, to be honest, and barely mentions the real issue: an alleged slush fund Cooper tried to get out of Duke Energy and other energy providers involved in the now-dead Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Check out my 2020 recap of that pipeline scandal at North State Journal.
Alleged sexual misconduct at Cooper fundraisers
U.S. Senate race sex offender freeze tag continues.
Read the article at The Blue Ridge Times. Here’s the complaint link.
“Law and Order” Tit for Tat
Read the story and watch the clip over at the Blue Ridge Times: Cooper Campaign Says Traffic Violations ‘Unacceptable,’ New Video Shows Cooper’s Security Apparently Breaking Traffic Laws
15 year old traffic tickets are the new “Fetch“
The Asheville Citizens Times bit down on the overblown Whatley traffic tickets story put out by NC Newsline, a left-leaning dark money funded outlet. The idea is to take the sting out of Whatley’s attacks on Cooper that link his past “soft-on-crime” policies to violent criminals and to the murder of Iryna Zarutska.
Monica Robinson, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee communications director, posted about the story and her across the aisle counterpart Nick Puglia answered.
Cooper was in Rocky Mount on Thursday for a ‘make stuff cost less’ stop.
And, once again, media outlets failed to ask him how he was going to do that.
POLLING
Real Clear Polling’s average with Cooper up 6.8 points over Whatley has not changed since last week.
CNN’s Harry Enten: Republicans are chipping away at Democrat’s advantage with Black voters.
Also Enten: Trump’s inflation numbers are the worst.
Reminder: Economy will determine the midterms. Personal income up, but so is inflation; jobless claims hit a low not seen since 1969.
WHAT I AM READING
Dem Senate hopefuls under scrutiny for ‘choke them out’ rhetoric after Trump attack scare
This time it was personal: Cooper and the left’s dangerous vitriol
(The article uses an X post by Monroe Mayor Robert Burns. This week he filed paperwork showing intent to run for NC governor in 2028.)