Research Jeff Jackson and Dan Bishop, the candidates running for NC attorney general
One of the most high-profile and competitive contests on the ballot this year is the race for attorney general.
Two of North Carolina’s most prominent and vocal members of Congress, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson and Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, are facing off against each other in the race to serve as the state’s top law enforcement official.
The current attorney general, Democrat Josh Stein, has served two terms since first being elected to the office in 2016. Before Stein, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper served four consecutive terms as attorney general beginning in 2001.
Stein is running to replace Cooper, who is term limited, as governor this year. He’s running against Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
As the state’s top law enforcement official, the attorney general leads the N.C. Department of Justice and represents the state in all legal matters. The attorney general can also intervene in court proceedings at both the state and federal level, and handles criminal appeals from state trial courts.
In this year’s race, Bishop is seeking to make history for Republicans, who haven’t won a race for attorney general since 1896, even as the party won back control of the General Assembly in 2010, and won the governor’s race in 2012.
Still, recent contests for the attorney general’s office have been exceedingly close.
Stein defeated Republican Buck Newton to win his first term in office in 2016 by 24,613 votes, or 0.54%. In 2020, Stein won reelection while running against Republican Jim O’Neill by an even closer margin of just 13,622 votes, or 0.26%.
Candidates for NC attorney general
The News & Observer sent candidate questionnaires to both Jackson and Bishop as part of our 2024 Voter Guide.
Both candidates submitted responses and answered questions about what their top priority would be as attorney general, how they would work with local law enforcement across the state, laws currently on the books they believe are unconstitutional, and on which issues they plan to partner with other state attorneys general. They also told us about issues where they disagree with their parties.
▪ Jeff Jackson, Democrat
▪ Dan Bishop, Republican
You can read more responses at newsobserver.com/voterguide.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 3:43 PM.
