A Convo with Stein
With only 22 days until the November election, Gubernatorial candidate and NC Attorney General Josh Stein is adamant on bettering North Carolina. As AG, Stein has used his position to fight for the people of North Carolina and promises to invest in people and their futures , and building a thriving economy, providing safe communities and strong schools.
As you enter your eighth year as Attorney General, having previously served as a state senator, how do you intend to leverage that experience in the Governor's office?
My work as Attorney General has put me in a direct role to interact daily with state agencies. It has also set me up to take on tough fights for North Carolinians. These are two sets of experience I intend to pull from as Governor. As Attorney General, I work with my team to represent every North Carolina state agency, and I’ve learned a great deal about how each facet of our state government works by being its lawyer.
What critical concerns do you think should take precedence in Raleigh? If you are elected, which challenges will you address head-on?
I love North Carolina, and I believe in the promise of this state – if you work hard, where you come from should not limit how far you can go. I am running for Governor to deliver on that promise by investing in our people and their futures and building a state with a thriving economy, safe communities, and strong schools. Working families in North Carolina need affordable and accessible health care, job opportunities no matter their geography, strong public schools, and safe neighborhoods.
And as a state, we must also recommit to funding our public schools and raising teacher salaries. We must invest in career and technical education so North Carolinians can access high-quality job opportunities, whether they pursue a college education or not, and we must ensure our schools have the support staff that they need for our students to thrive.
Your opponent, Mark Robinson, has proposed a plan that could result in the layoff of over 6,400 teachers. What is your position on this issue?
My opponent Mark Robinson is the anti-public education candidate for Governor. He has declared that he would ‘slash’ public education funding in North Carolina. He has also pledged to refuse more than $1 billion dollars in federal funding – our own tax money – that is used to educate our kids. It constitutes more than 10% of total state spending on our public schools. That is money that is used to fund school lunches, career and technical education, special needs students, and students from low-income families. To reject this funding would create teacher layoffs and larger class sizes, disproportionately impacting our most vulnerable communities. I’m in this race to defend public schools; my opponent just wants to defund them.
Affordable housing remains a significant challenge for many residents in North Carolina. What strategies do you plan to implement to address this concern?
A home should be more than just a roof over your head – it should also be an anchor in a community that’s safe with good schools and jobs and a way to build wealth for homeowners. But for too many North Carolinians, not only is buying a home out of reach, but renting a place near where they work is unattainable. Too many people are unable to find a decent, affordable place to live in their hometown. As your Governor, I will work to expand housing options across the state, so that our homes are a source of stability, not stress. That means increasing workforce homeownership opportunities, expanding the supply of affordable rental housing, and reducing homelessness.
Recently, the North Carolina Senate has recently passed a revised bill that increases funding for school vouchers and requires local sheriffs to comply with ICE detention
requests under certain circumstances. What is your viewpoint on this legislation?
Every child in North Carolina has a constitutional right to a sound basic public education. The General Assembly’s decision to use vouchers to take money away from public school kids and give it to millionaires sending their kids to unaccountable private academies, including those that discriminate on the basis of disability, wealth, religion, or faith, is wrongheaded. We need to prioritize our public schools so students can learn the skills they need to compete. As a State Senator and Attorney General, I have negotiated the Leandro settlement and fought for our state to fully fund our public schools, and I will continue that fight as Governor.
Many North Carolinians express the belief that their votes do not carry weight. How would you respond to this sentiment?
If people knew that they had the power to ask for more and expect better, then those politicians would be out of a job! You have more power than you know. If I could say anything to North Carolina voters, it’d be this: don’t let politicians strip you of your power by convincing you to check out.