Welcome back to the Old North State Update. This is edition #33 for 2026.
There are 74 days until the midterm elections.
Absentee by mail ballots in NC go out on Sept. 4.
THE BIG STORY
Today is the one-year anniversary of Iryna Zarutska’s murder on Charlotte’s light rail system. Her alleged killer, Decarlos Brown, remains in custody and remains unaccountable.
According to media reports out of Charlotte, the family filing a civil suit against the city of Charlotte.
Colleague Stacy Matthews has a strong opinion piece up at North State Journal (NSJ): The murder of Iryna Zarutska, one year later
Check out NSJ’s continuing coverage on Iryna Zarutska.
Senate candidate Michael Whatley held a press conference yesterday at the Charlotte Fraternal Order of Police Lodge to remember Zarutska and to mark the anniversary.
Whatley, along with scores of others, ripped into Cooper for his X post about Zarutska:
Lawmaker Rep. Grant Campbell (R-Cabarrus) dropped a simple reaction:
In light of the impending lawsuit, remembering Iryna should include the good and beautiful about her, but also the horrifying reason for today’s anniversary.
The attack on Zarutska was caught on the surveillance cameras on the train car. Media in North Carolina showed redacted and shortened clips, however, Megyn Kelly released the unedited version on her show last October.
Kelly made the point every American should see it or at least have access to it. The video can only be viewed on YouTube and it has an age restriction for good reason due to the graphic content.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Stein issues vetoes 17 & 18
Gov. Josh Stein issued two more vetoes this week on two bills: House Bill 377 - Election Law Changes (veto number 17) and House Bill 958 - 2026 Court Changes (veto number 18).
Stein’s objection to 377 was over a single provision: Allowing the NC Supreme Court chief justice more leeway in suspending or firing judges.
The governor also issued a press release and held a theatrical press conference on on House Bill 958’s veto. On X, Stein posted the text from his veto message of that bill.
Details on both bills and the vetoes can be accessed on the top left of the General Assembly website.
Look for a dive into these vetoes from me next week over at NSJ.
CONGRESS
Where’s the (D)?
Jamie Ager launched his first big ad in the NC-11 race. Notably missing from the ad is his party affiliation.
Meanwhile, Joint House leadership endorsed Rep. Jennifer Balkcom as the replacement for Congressman Chuck Edwards on the NC-11 ballot.
U.S. SENATE
Quick Hits
Democrat Senate Candidate Roy Cooper’s Pay-to-Play Healthcare Push Made Him Rich (Breitbart)
Video Shows Democrat Roy Cooper Lying to Reporters About Releasing 4,200 Prisoners (Breitbart)
Cooper takes “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour to Hendersonville (WLOS)
Questions for Cooper
Andrew Dunn (Longleaf Politics on Substack) has compiled a list of questions for Roy Cooper on his record. Cooper’s already been filmed refusing to answer some of them, such as his COVID prisoner release agreement, Iryna Zarutska’s murder, and where he stands on allowing men in womens’ sports.
Cooper’s campaign has refused to even acknowledge questions I have sent them on topics like his COVID orders and being evacuated from the mansion while Raleigh burned during the 2020 riots.
Read Dunn’s post, “Where do you stand, Roy?“ which highlights the website Dunn created called RubberStampRoy.com.
A question to add
Does Cooper think Zohran Mamdani is “incredible“ just like NC Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton does?
Fox News’ Jesse Watters thinks it’s a Republican dream come true.
Duke Energy Fight
In an X post, Cooper’s campaign accused Whatley of staying “silent” about Duke Energy’s proposed rate hikes, saying Whatley took “thousands” from Duke’s PAC. (The post cites a “Cardinal & Pine” article; that website is part of a stable of fake news sites run by dark money-funded Courier News.)
Well, Cooper owns Duke stock too and took Duke PAC money.
An additional point: Cooper appointed the members of the Utilities Commission that approved Duke Energy’s rate increases. As governor, Cooper stayed quiet over past energy rate increases while governor, likely to protect his solar and green energy pushes.
Whatley Campaign spokesman DJ Griffin issued this statement about the Cooper campaign’s claim:
“It’s not a shock to anyone that a Career Politician like Roy Cooper has lied throughout his career but the latest lies, enabled by the NCPOL press corps, is electrifying it. While North Carolina families saw energy rates jump 30% under his watch, thanks to the utilities commission he appointed, Roy Cooper has been taking in more than $440,000 from Duke Energy in political donations. At the same time, he owns Duke Energy stock and employed an active Duke Energy lobbyist at the governor’s mansion. Roy Cooper does not care about North Carolina families, just making millions for himself and his family. Talk about a hypocrite.”
Related Reading: Roy Cooper’s Dirty Secret (Townhall)
New Ads hits Cooper on Social Security, public safety
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) launched a new digital ad hitting Cooper for “wanting to tax senior citizens” on Social Security.
Senate Leadership Fund rolled out “Logan’s Story,” featuring Stephen Federico telling the story of how a career criminal murdered his daughter during a home invasion that occurred while she was visiting friends in South Carolina.
Federico says in the ad that she was “the casualty of an agenda,” and then links that agenda to Cooper and his COVID era prisoner release.
Stephen Federico gave vigorous testimony about his daughter’s murder during a congressional committee’s field hearing in Charlotte last year, one of the facts lost on WRAL’s PolitiFact reporter, who apparently couldn’t comprehend the ad’s message of a criminal offender revolving door. He got hung up on the fact a crime in South Carolina (involving a North Carolinian woman) was being tied to Cooper and his policies.
Related: The Battle Against Misinformation and Checking the Fact-Checkers (full series) (Capital Research Center)
Whatley hits Stanly County
At a campaign stop in Raleigh focused on farmers, Whatley answered a question about the impact of tariffs related to agriculture and livestock.
Read about that at North State Journal.
Cooper saved from testifying in COVID lawsuit
Judge Erwin Wilson denied a motion to compel testimony from Cooper and former NC Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen in a COVID shutdown case. The case was brought by dozens of bars that were shut down by Cooper while others were allowed to operate.
In national COVID news, Dr. David Morens pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy for his willful avoidance of Freedom of Information Act requests on COVID decisions and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Morens was Anthony Fauci’s top adviser.
Related: Comer Confronts Former Biden HHS Secretary Over Concealing Dr. Fauci’s Diary and Phone from Congress
POLLING
Real Clear Polling’s average has Cooper up by 8 points over Whatley with the inclusion of new polling by High Point University that shows a closing gap with Cooper at 50% and Whatley at 45%. That poll was conducted between Aug. 3 to 12 and has a margin of error is 5.2%.
The High Point poll’s methodology says the sample was “800 individuals who said they are registered to vote,” that included “660 individuals who qualified as November2026 likely voters.”
Get out the salt shaker: The poll got its sample through YouGov and states it was conducted as “an online survey using a panel of respondents recruited and maintained by YouGov.”
Scroll down to page 15 of the methodology for the demographic section. The poll drew the majority of respondents from the piedmont region. Now compare the party affiliation responses on page 15 to the political viewpoint responses on page 17. Something feels off.
74 overall said they are Republican, but for views, the score was 82 overall (Conservative and very Conservative combined).
64 claimed to be Democrats but 57 for Liberal and very Liberal combined.
Interestingly, the exact same total was posted for moderates in both questions: 55 claimed to be independent/unaffiliated and 55 said they hold moderate views.