Josh Stein, North Carolina Attorney General and candidate for governor, had a meet-and-greet event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Monday, December 11th, as part of his campaign stop for the upcoming 2024 elections.
Stein, who grew up in Charlotte, shared with the assembled crowd what North Carolina means to him, ranging from the state’s natural beauty, home to some of the best universities in the world, a thriving business community, beautiful weather, barbeque, basketball, and the home of some Fortune 500 firms and small enterprises.
“My wife grew up here. We raised our three kids here. They all attended North Carolina public schools like her and I. North Carolina is our home. My prayer is that your children and grandchildren, as well as mine, will also want to live here,” Stein said.
Some of Steins’ outlined accomplishments as North Carolina’s attorney general include:
- Winning over $55 billion after taking on large pharmaceutical companies to aid families affected by the opioid crisis.
- Fighting for survivors of sexual assault by going after the backlog of unresolved cold cases that local law enforcement agencies had on file.
- Defending families’ drinking water by holding companies like Chemours and DuPont accountable over PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River.
- Fighting for democracy in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Court against Republican gerrymandering.
- Helped to negotiate the largest coal ash clean-up in the history of the country and then won a more than $1.1 billion settlement from Duke Energy about paying for the clean-up.
He also answered questions from the audience on issues that matter to them, such as affordable childcare, stormwater, national resources, air and water quality, voter’s protection rights, veterans’ rights, and accommodating jobs for transitioning military personnel, including the columnist’s question about revitalizing the state’s film industry and his stance on mental health and homelessness.
Stein favors a thriving, diversified workforce for the good of the state and the next workforce generation. During the Q&A session, he informed the columnist that the film business is an excellent component of a mixed economy, enabling people of various skill sets to prosper, which benefits the state’s economy rather than relying just on one area as the state did in the past with the tobacco, textile, and furniture industries. “Fortunately, we’re much more diversified than we used to be,” he stated.
To him, Medicaid expansion was a win-win, instrumental in helping everyone access affordable healthcare, including mental health services. He shared that the Republicans recognize the need for Medicaid expansion after the high demand for mental health services.
He shared during the question-and-answer segment with the columnist that substance use addiction and suicide rates are examples of why better access to mental health treatment through Medicaid expansion is needed.
“In exchange for expanding Medicaid, the Biden Administration offered North Carolina over $1 billion in incentive payments, used on mental health services,” he added.
He also shared with the columnist that $1 and a half billion out of the $55 billion settlement was used to support those battling substance addiction. He mentioned the connection between substance abuse and mental health issues, and receiving treatment can help victims gain their footing and potentially solve a portion of the homelessness issue. He said that increasing the number of affordable housing units can also help reduce homelessness. He wants to use those causes and other causes to fight for North Carolina.
North Carolina AG Josh Stein announces his 2024 bid for governor
Stein hopes that the battle to keep North Carolina safe will also benefit the next generation, who will benefit from a fair share of prosperity to develop and grow the economy, invest in broadband watering, maintain economic growth, create more well-paying jobs, raise the minimum wage and lower taxes for working families, give an excellent education opportunity to children, expand career technical education and apprenticeship programs, support educators, increase teachers’ pay, and ensure that every person has access to quality healthcare.
“My faith teaches me that we are called to make a difference. We can make North Carolina even stronger if we invest in our people and their futures. I’m running for governor because I believe in the promise of this state that if you work hard, where you come from should never limit how far you can go,” Stein states.
Stein’s father, Adam Stein, along with Julius Chambers and James Ferguson, established the first integrated law practice in North Carolina in the 1960s, victorious in the nation’s legal battle against discrimination and for equality. “They never stopped doing what was right, not even when someone firebombed their offices and burned them into the ground,” Stein stated.
Despite how tough it is, to him, many other heroes in North Carolina and their causes are worth the fight. Those moving factors, his love for his home state, tackling on issues of North Carolinians, and his experience as the state’s attorney general, are valuable for Stein as he runs for N.C. governor to make the state prosperous for all.
To learn more about Josh Stein’s, his campaign, and ways to get involve, click on the highlighted link.