This past Wednesday, a recent announcement from North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein explained that the man is going to throw his hat into the race for the state’s governor’s office.
Stein tried to label himself as different from North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, the other potential leading Republican contender. Robinson has not yet officially announced his next run for governor, but Stein appeared to have thought it was very important to go on the offensive against Robinson in his recent announcement to run for the governor’s office.
“Robinson wants to tell you who you can marry, when you’ll be pregnant, and who you should hate,” exclaimed Stein in a video announcing his efforts.
“I’m running for governor because I believe in a very different North Carolina. One rooted in our shared values of freedom, justice and opportunity for everyone. And I believe the fights we choose show who we are and determine what kind of state we’ll become,” tagged on Stein.
Additionally, Stein also spoke about the topic of abortion, especially in the wake of this past year when a number of Republicans pressed him to put in a request within a federal court to get rid of a sitting injunction on the law from the state that blocks close to all abortions past the point of 20 weeks. He ignored the pressure and did not make any efforts to remove the injunction.
“North Carolina is one of the last states in the South where women can access a safe and lawful abortion,” explained Stein a number of times in a different release. “Any woman from an anti-choice state who travels to another state is not a criminal; she is accessing health care. I will do everything in my power to preserve women’s freedoms.”
Roy Cooper, as the currently sitting Democratic Governor, will be unable to seek another term, and this effort seems to just be Stein jumping into the ring as early as possible.
“It should be clear that Stein is scared of a primary. He won his last election by less than 15,000 votes out of the more than 5 Million cast,” explained one political advisor for Robinson, Conrad Pogorzelski, as reported by Fox News. “He is hoping that by creating the narrative that it is him against Robinson, he can avoid a primary against Joan Higginbotham or Michael Regan.”
Stein also recently spoke out about how he had been previously “endorsed by a diverse group of more than 150 officials” across the state, which included the state House Democratic leader, Democratic Governor Jim Hunt, several districts attorney, along with quite a few members of law enforcement.
“Josh Stein is smart, caring, and hardworking — precisely the type of person we want to be Governor,” explained former Governor Jim Hunt as part of his endorsement. “He’ll focus on educating our kids, keeping families safe, and building a strong economy. Electing Josh as our next Governor will be a great thing for North Carolina.”
Stein has worked as the state’s attorney general since 2017 and held a role as a member of the state’s Senate prior to that from 2009 to 2016.