The N&O is adding a new reporter to its team covering North Carolina politics
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The N&O hires Esther Frances as its new legislative and lobbying reporter.
- Frances will follow the money and track influence and strategy at the General Assembly.
- She joins a six-reporter politics team after prior education and Capitol Hill coverage.
The News & Observer has added another reporter to its politics team.
Esther Frances is The N&O’s new legislative and lobbying reporter — a guide for readers to the complex world of lawmaking, advocacy and influence centered on the North Carolina General Assembly and state government, and how it affects their lives.
Esther will be part of a team of six reporters who cover state government, the federal government and higher education, continuing The N&O’s long tradition of prioritizing coverage of North Carolina government and politics.
On the legislative beat, Esther will follow the money and track how influence and political strategy affect the decisions of powerful state politicians. She’ll also keep watch on some of the most crucial issues in state politics, like public safety and criminal justice.
Esther previously worked at The Frederick News-Post in Frederick, Maryland, where she covered education starting in July 2024. Her reporting there on K-12 and higher education has included coverage of elections — including partisan politics in what are billed as nonpartisan races.
As an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, College Park, she was awarded the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship to report for the Washington Blade, covering political stories in Delaware that often focused on the LGBTQ+ community. While completing her master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University, Esther covered debates on Capitol Hill about the environment and energy for Inside Climate News and Medill News Service.
Esther joins a politics team that also includes Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi and Kyle Ingram, who report on the legislature, state government and state-level politics, Danielle Battaglia, who covers the impact of Congress and the federal government on North Carolina, and Jane Winik Sartwell, who reports on higher education. The team is led by Jordan Schrader.
To reach Esther with a question or news tip, you can contact her at esther.frances@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 8:00 AM.
