Carolina Forward

Here's what happened this week in North Carolina politics. [February 20, 2026]

We took a field trip to Charlotte. And Phil's in trouble. 💸

As we start the last 10 days of early voting in North Carolina's 2026 primary election, Carolina Forward is very proud to endorse several candidates running for our state legislature:

Haven't voted yet? Check here to look up an early voting site close to you: vt.ncsbe.gov/EVSite/

The flood of new datacenters into North Carolina now accounts for a whopping **80%** of all new electricity demand forecasted through 2030, according to Duke Energy.

That datacenter boom has led to Duke Energy passing on large new rate hikes for North Carolina consumers.

[TOMORROW IN CHARLOTTE] Journalists, creators, and community members are coming together to talk about the future of media. Join our Media in the 21st Century panel tomorrow at 6 PM for a real conversation about trust, access, and accountability.

RSVP here: secure.ngpvan.com/iaiHmSE1i0OG...

Check out this new episode of the Pretend - a documentary true crime podcast: "State of Corruption - The School That Didn't Exist." It's a deep-dive look into North Carolina's deeply troubled private school voucher scheme.

Full episode: open.spotify.com/episode/4myv...

What is the intermediate/long-term future look like for North Carolina's politics?

Tl;dr - rigging the maps works only for a while. Eventually, the gerrymandering is going to fail. And then, buckle up.

Political change begins on Election Day. From your town council all the way to the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh, we're here to help you make your voice heard.

Will you join us in building a better North Carolina for everyone?
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Here's what happened this week in North Carolina politics. [February 13, 2026]

They killed legal assistance to low-income people in our state and then gambled our money on crypto.

Go Eunice! Go Mystique! ⛸️

Bad: Legal Aid of NC, which provides free legal assistance to low-income North Carolinians, has now laid off 40 staff and closed 9 offices all across the state after Republican lawmakers in the state legislature froze their funds.

More: www.newsobserver.com/news/state/n...

According to the conservative @taxfoundation.bsky.social think tank, the Trump tariffs will cost the average American household $1,300 in 2026 alone, lead to a 0.5% reduction in GDP, and cost 436,000 jobs.

Just a self-inflicted economic disaster.

Full report: taxfoundation.org/research/all...

Early voting for the 2026 primary election begins TOMORROW - Thursday, February 12th. We get a ton of questions about how primary elections work in North Carolina, so here are some FAQs.

Make sure you go vote! 🗳️

[NEW] Voter fraud is almost nonexistent in North Carolina.

Despite overwhelming evidence that voter fraud in North Carolina is extremely rare, our state's lawmakers are pushing new rules that make it harder for eligible voters to register and cast a ballot.

carolinaforward.org/blog/propose...

North Carolina has a very serious problem with political corruption. The biggest single example of a blatant scam on our state's taxpayers is probably the private school voucher scheme. Once you find out how this system works, it'll blow your mind that this is legal. 🤯

But the population decline has reversed. Not because folks are having babies again, though - but because the Florida and Georgia retirees are coming to live out their days in their new houses.

Today, most of North Carolina's rural counties' economies are still still in the "permanent recession" they've been in for 15 years or more. There are fewer jobs, fewer dollars circulating locally, and less opportunity every year.

After COVID, this accelerated. Most of the younger folks had moved away years ago. Out-of-state newcomers kept coming in droves, because much of rural North Carolina is a beautiful place to live, particularly if you're retired and already made your money to live.

In their place, newcomers - most of them retirees from Florida, Virginia, Georgia, New York and elsewhere - began moving into those rural counties. By the mid-2010s, the newcomers accounted for pretty much all rural county population increase. Among locals, there were more deaths than births.

Younger people and families began moving away from rural areas to Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham and their suburbs to take jobs there. They mostly stayed and didn't come back.

In the early 2010s, the population of rural North Carolina counties pretty much stopped growing "the old fashioned way." (Eg. folks having babies.) The economy ground to a halt after the Great Recession. The state government embraced trickle-down economics, but the wealth never trickled down.

This is probably the single most important thing you have to understand about how rural North Carolina is changing right now.

A highly underrated dynamic shaping a lot of American politics right now is the extent to which Republican voters aren't really consuming much news media whatsoever besides one: Fox News.

Here's what happened this week in North Carolina politics. [February 6, 2026]

Snow's over. Now go check your voter registration before it mysteriously disappears. 👻

Good question! Short answer: we can't. Duke Energy does not provide this level of data for North Carolina. (They don't want to.)

YouGov #21 Catawba College is ranked #4 among the best colleges in the South. Located in historic Salisbury, NC, it is a private, coeducational liberal arts college established in 1851. Our mission is to enrich ...

www.catawba.edu/news/all-new...

New @catawbacollege.bsky.social poll of North Carolina voters:

Trump net approval: -7%
@joshsteinnc.bsky.social net approval: +25% 🤯

Net approval Congressional 🔴Republicans: -14%
Net approval of Congressional 🔵Democrats: -12%

Net approval of U.S. military action against Greenland: -38%

This is a typical single-day graph of electricity consumption in the whole state of California (CAISO).

That giant surge of yellow in the middle of the day is solar electricity. During peak demand in the middle of the day, solar meets around 50% of the entire electricity needs of the state.

Duke Energy is one of the biggest campaign contributors in the North Carolina state legislature (and it's the single biggest spender on lobbying). The corporation gives to both parties, but very unequally. Here's what their contributions have looked like over the last 25 years.

Our state lawmakers in North Carolina are thinking about doing... something... about property taxes. (They're not sure what yet.) But rising property taxes around the state are mostly a result of the state legislature's own actions - and as usual, they're not taking any responsibility.

A snowy North Carolina from space this morning. 😍

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