Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump and a swelling population were intriguing North Carolina storylines in 2024 as The Center Square delivered news and information.
Two dozen of them are gathered here, though the list is not a ranking, does not attempt to define “the most” of anything including republications by news partners. Rather, it is a collection of interesting, important and useful news and information delivered by The Center Square news wire service.
Here’s 24 from 2024.
• U.S. Census Bureau estimates have pushed the population to 11.1 million.
• Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, among the matriarchs of the state’s Democrats, will begin work next month with a sixth different governor. She is 79 years young and on track to have 32 consecutive years in the office. Marshall told The Center Square in a one-on-one interview in September, “It’s historic, and it’s also astonishing to me because I didn’t grow up dreaming that I would be even a lawyer, let alone running a major office in government. I didn’t dream big enough for myself.”
• Actions of Carolina fraternity brothers with the American flag on the famed Polk Place campus quad drew the praise of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and led to a joint session of Congress rising for a standing ovation and chanting, “USA! USA! USA!” The April actions amid a protest about the war between Hamas and Israel also led to a guest spot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis.
• First bet was the Legislature approving sports wagering. Through the first 265 days, North Carolina is averaging a gain of $372,177 per day on the $98,627,032 total.
• VinFast, in line to be a recipient of $1.2 billion in taxpayer money through incentives, failed this summer to start production of its $4 billion plant in Moncure. It’s bleeding money, too, with a third-quarter net loss of $550 million – a tad less than half of the $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawing on Friday night.
• North Carolina is expected to remain a destination for abortions in the South following two decisions in a federal case litigating new state law. Overall, most of the law enacted Dec. 1, 2023, in the wake of Roe v. Wade being reversed in June 2022 is in place. Included are no abortions after 12 weeks, down from 20, except in cases of rape, incest, or “life-limiting anomalies.”
• Well beyond the halcyon days of the Bible Belt, faith still matters in eastern North Carolina. Speaking to The Center Square at a Trump rally in Rocky Mount, 1st Congressional District candidate and retired Army Col. Laurie Buckhout said, “Faith matters in this state. Faith matters in this district, more than a whole lot of people think.” And, she says, not of the old Bible Belt way. “It did get shook,” she says of the moniker, “and it came to have a not great conversation. Now, it’s a loving, accepting positive environment. It’s a wide environment. I see it all over the state.”
• Agriculture, North Carolina’s No. 1 industry forever, topped $111.1 billion in economic impact in 2024 with No. 1 in production rankings nationally for sweet potatoes, tobacco, and poultry and eggs. Growth since coming out of the COVID-19 era in 2022 is $18 billion.
• The school choice waiting list of about 55,000 was wiped clean when lawmakers appropriated $463 million to the Opportunity Scholarship program.
• The state’s 100 sheriffs, according to a new law, are to hold suspects believed to have illegally entered or be illegally living in the United States. The detainer is up to 48 hours, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement is to be notified.
• With a ruling from Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter at the Office of Administrative Hearings, Aetna is in and BlueCross BlueShield is out as the State Health Plan.
• Charlotte City Council approved allocation of $650 million to the stadium project of NFL Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper and his companies. He’s the 94th richest person on the planet at an estimated $20.6 billion net worth and owns the stadium used by his Panthers, his Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer, and his Tepper Sports & Entertainment.
• Kylee Alons, a two-time national champion and 31-time All-American for N.C. State, is among 16 collegiate athletes, including 12-time All-American Riley Gaines, suing the NCAA for letting men who say they are women compete against them and use the same locker rooms.
• Payton McNabb, the volleyball player from Hiawassee Dam High School in the mountains injured in 2022 by a boy saying he was a girl so he could play, continued to lead the national fight to protect women’s spaces alongside notable figures such as Gaines and Paula Scanlan. The Independent Women’s Forum coalition and its Our Bodies Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Bus Tour, of which she was a part of, was vandalized while making a stop in Chapel Hill. By year’s end, the Biden administration had withdrawn changes to Title IX in a true national grassroots movement victory.
• In one of the two biggest legislative wins of the last 15 years for the fight against human trafficking, lawmakers made solicitation of prostitution a felony. Enactment was Dec. 1.
• Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, 72, won a sixth term last month. North Carolina was more blue than purple in the 1990s when he felt Democrats were hostile to tobacco production and he left the party to be a Republican.
• Gov. Roy Cooper, 67, was a strong consideration for the Democrats’ presidential ticket, ultimately saying he would support Harris but not be her running mate. He remains with a perfect election record, unbeaten in 13 – three for North Carolina House of Representatives, four in the state Senate, four four-year terms for attorney general, and two four-year terms for governor. There’s a watch for his decision related to the U.S. Senate seat race in 2026.
• Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson held a modest polling lead as late as May against Democrat Josh Stein in the governor’s race. The summer swoon of the Republican went to unthinkable depths – losing by 14 points on Election Day – in part ignited by a Sept. 19 report from CNN.
• AI & Politics ’24, led by Lee Rainie and Jason Husser at Elon University, in May said 78% believe it is likely artificial intelligence will be abused to impact the outcome of the presidential race.
• Between July 22 and Sept. 12, seven lawsuits were filed against the State Board of Elections that includes Democrats Alan Hirsch, its chairman, Jeff Carmon and Siobhan Millen; and Republicans Stacy Eggers and Kevin Lewis; and Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell.
• Hurricane Helene killed 103 in the state, 232 across seven states, and caused an estimated $53 billion in damage to the state. Arguably, it is the state’s worst natural disaster.
• Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, as well as their vice president picks and for Harris presidents present and past, were regular visitors ahead of Election Day. Trump’s win kept intact a pattern now 60 years old.
• Average household spending in North Carolina is $1,017 more per month today to buy the same goods and services as it was in 2021 according to a July report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s 22% cumulative inflation.
• Fifty-nine positions were eliminated and 131 realigned after the University of North Carolina System changed a diversity policy that ensures “equality of all persons and viewpoints.” Total reported savings are $17.1 million and total redirected savings are $16.2 million.
