Stein wins NC Democratic gubernatorial primary

Attorney General Josh Stein won the Democratic primary for governor, an expected result Tuesday, topping former state Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan and three other contenders — Chrelle Booker, Gary Foxx and Marcus Williams.

Leading up to Election Day, Stein consistently led the rest of his challengers in opinion polls as well as fundraising by considerable margins.

In his victory speech Tuesday Stein vowed to veto any bill from Republican lawmakers attempting to further restrict abortion access — likely to be a key theme in the election, since Robinson has said that he'd sign stricter abortion rules into law if elected governor. Stein also accused Robinson of embracing far-right conspiracy theories and holding extreme views on issues like LGBTQ rights and women's roles.

"You better believes that Robinson’s extreme views would scare away business," Stein said. "Instead of waging culture wars, let’s grow the economy."

Robinson faced those same types of critiques from his GOP opponents, too, and brushed them aside in his victory speech Tuesday.

"We were able to withstand withering attacks from our opponents, all of which were baseless," Robinson said. "We firmly stand by what we believe in, who we are."

In the Democratic primary, Stein and Morgan had each touted their ability to win statewide even when Republicans have won many other high-profile elections. In 2016, although Donald Trump won North Carolina in the presidential race, voters also backed Stein for attorney general and Morgan for a seat on the state’s highest court.

Now Stein will have a chance to do it again in 2024 — when Trump appears likely to be on the ballot, hoping to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden.

A Stein win in November would make history: He’d be the state’s first Jewish governor.

How NC Attorney General Josh Stein is bracing for his next big political fight

Stein grew up in Chapel Hill and has spent the last seven years as attorney general focusing largely on consumer protection issues — going after robocallers, opioid manufacturers and tech giants. His first term overlapped with Trump’s time as president, and Stein sued the Trump administration over multiple issues including the Muslim travel ban and child separation policies at the Mexican border.

“For these past seven years, I've been fighting for people here in the state as their attorney general and delivering whether it's tackling the opioid crisis or eliminating the backlog of untested rape kits or taking on polluters who poison folks drinking water or protecting kids from exploitation,” Stein said in a recent interview.

He has followed almost exactly the same political path as Gov. Roy Cooper, a fellow Democrat: state senator, then attorney general, then a run for governor. Cooper, who is term-limited, has endorsed Stein to replace him as governor. Stein replaced Cooper as attorney general.

Cooper also spoke Tuesday, encouraging people to support Stein as his replacement in the governor's mansion.

"You know, and I know, that Mark Robinson does not represent North Carolina values," Cooper said. "We need someone who is honest. We need someone who has integrity and grit."

The Libertarian Party also has a primary for governor, between Mike Ross and Shannon Bray. Besides the winners of the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian gubernatorial primaries, voters in November will also see Green Party nominee Wayne Turner on their ballots.

Robinson wins GOP primary race for NC governor