North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein delivers his inaugural address at the Capitol Building in Raleigh on Jan. 11, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
Gov. Josh Stein pledged in his inaugural address Saturday to continue rebuilding western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene “for as long as it takes,” outlining a range of broad priorities and calling for bipartisan work with the Republican-led legislature.
“Today we must overcome the unprecedented storm that ravaged our state, and the everyday struggles that impact our neighbors,” Stein said. “And we will.”
The address, delivered in the Capitol Building’s House chamber, was themed “North Carolina Strong” — centering the state’s response to tragedies past and present. Stein spoke to a small crowd of family, staff and the press — earlier plans for an outdoor address and block party were postponed due to weather.
Stein ticked off several priorities in the mountains — housing survivors, supporting business owners and rebuilding strong infrastructure. And he named several locals whom he’d met in recent months — a local AM radio station in Haywood County, a Watauga County business owner and a McDowell County restaurant operator.
“We have so much more work to do,” he said. “And I am committed to doing it arm-in-arm with our friends in western North Carolina, for as long as it takes.”
Stein, a Democrat, succeeds Roy Cooper after two terms of attorney general. He’s established Helene recovery as his number one priority — carrying over key officials from Cooper’s administration while spinning up a new team within his office to spearhead the recovery.
He also outlined several key policy issues — calling on further investment for pre-kindergarten; pay raises for public school teachers; more robust law enforcement and cracking down on drug trafficking.
Stein, another Democrat with a GOP legislature, calls for bipartisanship
Like his predecessor, Stein will be faced with an oppositional state legislature controlled by large Republican majorities.
In recent years, that has meant conservative priorities landing on the governor’s desk, those priorities being vetoed, and often vetoes being overridden.
Stein urged legislative leaders to take a different tack in his address Saturday.
He recalled the history of major initiatives passed under divided control — Cooper and the GOP legislature expanding Medicaid, and Republican Gov. Jim Holshouser working with Democrats for kindergarten for all children.
“We have real problems to solve, and we do not have time to settle petty political scores or fight divisive culture wars,” Stein said. “I want to stand with you as we fight for our people, not with each other.”
GOP legislative leaders have expressed optimism about cooperating with Stein, specifically on Helene recovery. But they remain wary after years of frustration involving the state’s homebuilding program for Hurricanes Florence and Matthew in the east.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk with (Stein), but it appears that the steps he’s taken is something of an acknowledgement that the NCORR model is not the model for us to continue to go with,” Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said after the first day of the legislative session on Wednesday. “I think there will be an effort to try to figure out exactly what it looks like. That seems to me to be the most pressing issue we’ve got.”
A statement Saturday from the spokesperson for the North Carolina Republican Party was more contentious — saying voters “trust Republicans to deliver for families, small businesses and workers.”
“Governor Josh Stein today pledges to continue the same tired policies North Carolinians endured for the past eight years in the executive mansion,” communications director Matt Mercer said.
“While Democrats spend their time appointing political donors to state boards and complaining about responsible governance, Republicans will continue to lead.”
The spirit of cooperation between the legislature and North Carolina’s new governor will get its first test at the end of this month as lawmakers begin the 2025 session in earnest.