Under the Dome: GOP NC schools candidate makes anti-gay comment
Good morning! Here's a look at what you need to know about North Carolina politics today, from correspondent Stephanie Loder and our politics team.
What did she say now? NC Republican superintendent of schools candidate Michele Morrow is drawing fire and ire for erroneously claiming that the "plus" in LGBTQ+ is linked to pedophilia, according to a report by T. Keung Hui Emily Vespa.
Morrow is far from being correct.
Fact check: "The + holds space for the expanding and new understanding of different parts of the very diverse gender and sexual identities," according to Princeton University's Gender and Sexuality Resource Center
Morrow made the anti-gay comment this week in a social media post on X after her opponent Democrat Mo Green, the former superintendent of Guilford County Schools, was endorsed by Equality NC which she said promotes "LGBTQ+ power."
Green condemned Morrow's comment, which he said was "another example in Michele Morrow's long history of spreading hatred, encouraging violence, and proving she's unfit to lead our public schools."
Here are some facts:
According to the Zero Abuse Project , a nonprofit dedicated to protecting children from abuse and sexual assault, most child molesters are heterosexual.
In most child sexual abuse cases, the alleged abuser is the heterosexual partner of a close relative of the child, a 1994 study found.
Morrow's campaign didn't respond Wednesday to a request for comment from The News & Observer.
Dan Bishop, Jeff Jackson and why they're running for NC AG
A pair of North Carolina lawyers serving in Congress have set their sights on a return to state government.
Avi Bajpai reports on the backgrounds of Reps. Dan BishopJeff Jackson and their decisions to leave Washington to campaign for NC attorney general. Both served in the General Assembly before running for Congress.
Democrats talk abortion, guns and pet eating at Asheville rally
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz took center stage at a rally on Tuesday in Asheville. Here are three takeaways from the event from The Charlotte Observer's Nora O'Neill:
Walz denounced former President Donald Trump's GOP running mate JD Vance for his comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, abducting and eating pets.
Walz supports expanding abortion rights.
A Second Amendment supporter and gun owner, he wants gun laws that will prevent school shootings.
Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a former Republican for almost half a century, said the GOP doesn't care anymore about protecting democracy. He called it "the party of Donald Trump, JD Vance and Mark Robinson."
Here's what else the Under the Dome politics team has been working on:
JD Vance spoke Wednesday about illegal immigration, the First Amendment and housing cost increases during a rally in Raleigh, Kyle Ingram and Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi report .
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper plans to headline a Raleigh fundraiser to benefit Nicole Sidman's campaign for an east Mecklenburg County state House seat as she tries to unseat Republican Rep.Tricia Cotham, according to a report by Mary Ramsey of the Charlotte Observer.
Here's what our colleagues at other media outlets are reporting:
Donald TrumpKamala Harris by 3 points in the latest Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll of Georgia , the AJC reports.
WRAL is reporting on an AI-generated political TV ad that will begin airing next week. The ad is described as a parody about Republican Mark Robinson in the NC governor's race.
The deadline to register to vote in the 2024 election in North Carolina is approaching, and WBTV reports what types of identification are acceptable.
Voter Guide
In the latest candidate questionnaires from our see what candidates for NC agriculture commissioner have to say about the issues, and learn more about their biographies.
Two candidates for that job answered our questions:
Sean Haugh, Libertarian .
Sarah Taber, Democrat .
Check your inbox tomorrow for more questionnaires, and lots more #ncpol news.
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