Next Wake DA Wiley Nickel vows corruption crackdown, scrutiny of ICE tactics

The last time Wake County’s future district attorney, Wiley Nickel, argued a case in a courtroom was in 2022.

At the time, he was running for Congress. After winning the race, he sold his Cary law practice and headed to Washington, D.C., to be sworn in.

Now Nickel is preparing to return to the courtroom — this time as Wake County’s top prosecutor.

The job puts him in charge of one of North Carolina’s most powerful district attorney’s offices, overseeing thousands of criminal cases each year.

On Tuesday, Nickel won the three-way Democratic primary decisively, aided by name recognition and campaign promises that set him apart from the traditional law-and-order messaging common in district attorney races. There is no Republican opposition in the race this fall.

Nickel pledged to expand investigations into public corruption and push back on federal immigration tactics.

“Wake County voters made clear at the ballot box what they want. They want a district attorney who is going to keep Wake County safe, tackle political corruption, and stand up to a president who is shredding the Constitution in the Oval Office every day,” Nickel told The News & Observer this week.

Here are three things that Nickel, a state senator from 2019 to 2022 and a U.S. congressman from 2023 to 2025, plans to focus on once he is sworn in as DA in January.

Increase political-corruption investigations

North Carolina’s district attorneys oversee prosecutors, investigators and administrators handling thousands of cases each year. They also have broad discretion over which cases to pursue.

Since Raleigh houses the state government, that discretion includes deciding when to investigate and prosecute alleged political corruption. Nickel plans to elevate those investigations, he said.

Pointing to recent headlines alleging politicians illegally profited from their positions, Nickel said he plans to open more investigations than his predecessor and follow the evidence wherever it leads, regardless of party.

“If you break the law, you’re going to be held accountable,” he said.

Nickel said his political experience — including a congressional stint he believes was cut short by a Republican-drawn voting map — has given him insight into how power can be abused.

Push back on ICE tactics

Nickel said he plans to scrutinize federal immigration operations in Wake County. Recent enforcement efforts in North Carolina and Minnesota, he said, have not focused on violent criminals and are not making communities safer.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make it difficult for them to engage in political theater in North Carolina,” Nickel said.

Nickel said he also plans to closely review North Carolina’s law that bars people from wearing masks on public property and consider whether federal officials violate it when they take people in custody, as they did during a targeted federal immigration operation last year.

“That’s one place where I see abuse,” he said.

Double the size of the DA’s office

One of Nickel’s first tasks as district attorney will be securing funding to double Wake County’s 44 prosecutors, he said.

While prosecutors typically must rely on the General Assembly for additional staffing, Nickel said he plans to follow a model used by the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office. Mecklenburg and the city of Charlotte help to or entirely fund salaries for about 30% of the 95 prosecutors, said Mecklenburg DA spokesperson Mike Stolp.

Nickel’s already started conversations with Wake County and Raleigh leaders, he said, and is very optimistic.

Over the months leading up to his 2026 swearing-in, which Nickel describes as his “runway,” he plans to lobby businesses and the community to invest more in public safety.

That’s an important part of his job, he said, getting out and building support in the community.

“Frankly, change doesn’t happen on Jones Street. Doesn’t happen in the halls of Congress. It happens when people make their voice heard,” he said.

This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 8:27 AM.