As Gov. Stein sets a direction for NC, will he cooperate or clash with GOP lawmakers? | Opinion

When Gov. Josh Stein makes his first State of the State address to the General Assembly on Wednesday he will announce an agenda, but more importantly, he will set a tone.

Will it be conciliatory or challenging?

Stein opened his first term with an inaugural address that stressed the former.

“I want to stand with you as we fight for our people, not with each other,” he said. “No party has all the answers. Good ideas do not come with party labels. When we work together, we are stronger and there is no limit to what we can accomplish for the good of the people of this state.”

But similar to their discontent with their party’s response at the national level, some Democrats may want a more pointed message. Will Stein warn the state’s Republican lawmakers not to support Trump administration moves that would be especially damaging to North Carolina: cutting Medicaid, hobbling university research and limiting natural disaster relief? Will he tell them to stop neglecting state services and public schools in favor of tax cuts?

Maybe Stein could pick up where former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper left off. Cooper tried working with Republicans and made progress on Medicaid expansion and energy legislation, but far more often he was denied or ignored.

Eventually, he went on the offensive. He fired off vetoes, condemned the Republican move to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on private school vouchers and declared in May of 2023 that the Republican majority’s failure to provide needed funding has created a state of emergency for public schools.

Stein, a Democrat, certainly has reason to confront Republican lawmakers. During his eight years as attorney general, Republican leaders criticized his performance. When Stein became governor, they greeted him with efforts to strip some of his appointment powers.

I asked three Democratic advisers and one former Democratic congressman which way Stein should go. All said he shouldn’t take on Republican lawmakers, at least not yet.

Gary Pearce, a former political adviser to Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, said Stein shouldn’t come out swinging. “It may make you feel better to slap the Republicans around for one or two hours, but I’m not sure that accomplishes a lot for the state,” he said. “This is where he has to be the governor of North Carolina, not the leader of the Democratic Party.”

Ken Eudy, a former senior political adviser to Cooper, said Stein has reason to be frustrated, but “every governor should start out saying if we can agree, let’s agree.”

But Eudy said it’s also important that Stein make clear what the legislature should be doing, even if there’s little chance that it will do it.

“He needs to say here’s what school children need, here’s what state employees need,” Eudy said. “He has to put it out there and put them on the record so there can be some accountability, such as it is in a gerrymandered system.”

Douglas Wilson, a. Democratic political consultant based out of Charlotte, said seeking cooperation is smart politics.

“He should make at least an attempt to say, ‘Hey, let’s find common ground on the issues that affect the people in our state,’ ” Wilson said. “By doing that they can’t say, ‘The governor is not trying to work with us.’ “

Reaching out is also a practical approach, Wilson said.

“No one on my side of the aisle is oblivious to the fact that Republicans control both chambers,” he said. “They’ve got the power. If you come out and just hammer them, it’s not going to get things done.”

Wiley Nickel, a former North Carolina Democratic congressman and state senator who plans to run for U.S. Senate in 2026, said Stein should take a conciliatory approach to working with the Republicans. “Kill them with kindness,” he said. “The voters gave him a real mandate for moderation, focusing on the economy and the kitchen table issues they want addressed.”

Appeals to bipartisanship are laudable, but often in vain. And that approach could make it harder for Democratic legislative leaders to keep their ranks in line when only a single Democratic defection in the House could enable Republicans to override a Stein veto.

But for now, it looks like the new governor will speak softly and carry a big olive branch.

This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 11:00 AM.