North Carolina

Government Delivered Inflation—but No Real Aid—in North Carolina

Published

1 year ago

November 11, 2024

Government Delivered Inflation—but No Real Aid—in North Carolina

North Carolina can’t catch a break under the Biden-Harris administration.

The federal government’s appalling response to Hurricane Helene almost surely cost lives, adding insult to the injury of the inflation that has been crushing Tar Heel State residents for 3 1/2 years. In fact, prices there have risen even faster than the national average.

The 40-year-high inflation that has afflicted North Carolinians specifically and Americans broadly started in Washington with runaway government spending. At the start of 2021, prices were rising at an annual rate of just 1.4%, and the economy was growing steadily.

Instead of allowing the economic recovery to simply continue and let one-time emergency COVID-19 spending expire, President Joe Biden pushed for trillions of dollars in new spending bills, bloated with left-wing boondoggles and special-interest handouts.

A spendthrift Congress obliged and, whenever necessary, Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate to approve multitrillion-dollar spending bills. A recent analysis showed that Harris’ action in pushing through those pieces of legislation accounted for half the excess inflation in the last three years.

That’s because every time Congress and the White House spent money the nation didn’t have, the Federal Reserve ended up creating the money for the Treasury to spend. This rampant increase in the money supply cut one-fifth of the value of the dollar in less than four years, which in turn caused prices to rise.

Since inflation has far outpaced wage gains, families have had to either reduce their spending or go into debt. That’s why credit card debt is at a record high and Americans are paying over $300 billion annually in finance charges on their outstanding balances.

But North Carolina has actually been hit harder by inflation than the national average. The Heritage Foundation’s personal inflation calculator uses official government data to show that household-related expenses in the South Atlantic region have increased 23%—or $983 per month—since January 2021.

To put that in perspective, inflation has cost North Carolina residents $11,800 annually, the equivalent of over 3 1/2 years’ worth of grocery expenses.

Many necessities, including utilities or food, have seen prices rise even faster than the overall average for all products and services. Monthly gasoline expenses in North Carolina and the rest of the South Atlantic region have increased from $133 to $191, a jump of over 44%, since Biden and Harris took office.

For those who can still afford to buy and fuel a car in today’s world of sky-high prices, the pain doesn’t stop there. Car insurance has also become astronomically more expensive—up 55% to $156 per month on average.

And while some North Carolinians may opt out of driving and resign themselves to walking or using public transit, they still need somewhere to live. Here again, the financial pain is acute, with the average rent and mortgage cost in the South Atlantic up 28% from $1,431 to $1,825 since the start of 2021.

But despite the mounting cost of profligate government spending on Tar Heel State residents, Gov. Roy Cooper is doubling down on the madness, taking a page out of the Biden-Harris playbook with his proposed biennial state budget that includes a $50 billion deficit.

The last thing North Carolina taxpayers need is more government spending and debt thrown onto their backs, especially as they struggle to recover from Hurricane Helene, without much help from federal authorities.

This article originally appeared in The Washington Times.

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North Carolina

2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers

Published

3 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers

Here are the voter turnout numbers for the 2026 primary election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Hyde County had the highest voter turnout, while Onslow County had the lowest turnout. Check out what the voter turnout in your county was below:

BERTIE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

31.85% (3,911 out of 12,280)

CARTERET COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

29.06% (16,543 out of 56,931)

CRAVEN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

18.63% (14,119 out of 75,778)

DUPLIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

21.93% (6,981 out of 31,832)

EDGECOMBE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

18.16% (6,428 out of 35,396)

GREENE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

19.70% (2,147 out of 10,900)

HYDE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

37.27% (1,123 out of 3,013)

JONES COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

25.91% (1,805 out of 6,966)

LENOIR COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

16.73% (6,251 out of 37,371)

MARTIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

17.61% (2,858 out of 16,228)

ONSLOW COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

11.44% (14,816 out of 129,537)

PAMLICO COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

24.03% (2,446 out of 10,180)

PITT COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

15.71% (19,429 out of 123,705)

TYRRELL COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

30.49% (723 out of 2,371)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

28.66% (2,312 out of 8,067)

WAYNE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

21.49% (16,408 out of 76,358)

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North Carolina

Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety

Published

16 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety

Wednesday, March 4, 2026 6:41PM

NC schools and businesses encouraged to practice tornado safety

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina schools and businesses took part in a statewide tornado drill Wednesday morning as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

The National Weather Service led the drill at 9:30 a.m., broadcasting it on NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System. Schools, workplaces and households across the state were encouraged to join in.

The National Weather Service didn’t issue a follow up alert to mark the end of the drill. Instead, each school or business wrapped up once they felt they had practiced the procedures thoroughly.

Wednesday’s drill also replaced the regular weekly NOAA Weather Radio test.

SEE | New warning for parents amid new ‘fire-breathing’ social media trend

Make sure to download the ABC 11 Mobile App ABC11 North Carolina Apps for Connected TV, Mobile News, Echo

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North Carolina

North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

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North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam

Nida Allam in 2022; Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) in 2025.

Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

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Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee holds a narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional district as ballots continue to be counted.

In a race seen as an early test of whether Democratic voters desire generational change within the party, Foushee holds a lead of just over 1,000 votes with 99% of results in so far, according to the Associated Press.

Under state law, provisional votes will be counted in the coming days in a district that includes Durham and Chapel Hill. If the election results end up within a 1% margin, Allam could request a recount.

Successfully ousting an incumbent lawmaker is often extremely difficult and rare. However, there have been recent upsets in races as some voters are calling for new leaders and several sitting members of Congress face primary challengers this cycle.

Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, is running to the left of Foushee, 69, framing her candidacy as part of a broader rejection of longtime Democratic norms.

On the campaign trail, Allam ran on an anti-establishment message, pledging to be a stronger fighter than Foushee in Congress, both in standing up against President Trump’s agenda and when pushing for more ambitious policy.

“North Carolina is a purple state that often gets labeled red, but we’re not a red state,” she told NPR in an interview last month, emphasizing the need to address affordability concerns. “We are a state of working-class folks who just want their elected officials to champion the issues that are impacting them.”

She drew a contrast with the congresswoman on immigration, voicing support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Foushee has declined to go that far, advocating instead for ICE to be defunded and for broader reforms to the federal immigration system.

Allam also clashed with Foushee over U.S. policy towards Israel. As a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, Allam swore off campaign donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, and repeatedly criticized Foushee for previously accepting such funds.

Though Foushee announced last year that she would not accept AIPAC donations this cycle, she and Allam continued to spar over the broader role of outside spending in the race.

Their matchup comes four years after the candidates first squared off in 2022, when Allam lost to Foushee in what became the most expensive primary in the state’s history, with outside groups spending more than $3.8 million.

However, this year is poised to break that record. Outside groups have reported spending more than $4.4 million on the primary matchup, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

WUNC’s Colin Campbell contributed to this report.

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