Gov. Josh Stein signed five executive orders during his first week in office to speed recovery in Helene impacted counties. (Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office.)
For some politicians, the rise to political power is meteoric and surprising. Donald Trump’s sudden ascent from conspiracy-theory-peddling reality TV host to the presidency is undoubtedly the most notable example of this phenomenon, but there have been others in recent years.
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and wrestler Jesse Ventura won the governorships of California and Minnesota in their first and only runs for public office. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg went straight from the corporate boardroom to the New York mayor’s mansion. And Congress has long been littered with senators and representatives for whom ego and celebrity – rather than governmental experience – were their chief attributes.
North Carolina has largely been immune to this phenomenon. Jesse Helms went from TV commentator to the U.S. Senate, but he had worked actively in politics for decades before that and had served on the Raleigh City Council. And while John Edwards leapt directly into the Senate in his first run for office, he came to it with a formidable reputation in the world of law.
Meanwhile, no North Carolinian has become governor over the last century without prior experience in elected office. And the state’s new governor, Josh Stein, is cut from the same cloth. Indeed, to many who’ve been paying attention to state politics in recent decades, it has long seemed that Stein – much like former Gov. Roy Cooper – had been groomed for, and destined to occupy, the governor’s mansion for many years.
As Spectrum News host Loretta Boniti detailed recently in a glowing profile, not only has Stein spent most of his professional career in public service – including the last 16 in elected office as a state Senator and Attorney General – he’s someone who was raised in the world of public service and the broader movement for social justice from a young age.
His father Adam was partner in a legendary and barrier shattering civil rights law firm and his mother Jane has long been a highly visible progressive advocate and activist. His two siblings – Gerda and Eric – have both pursued successful careers in, respectively, criminal justice reform and consumer protection, and he even met his wife Anna – herself a public servant — when they were both interns in the state Attorney General’s office.
But, of course, there’s more to being a successful governor than one’s own personal background. Experience, intelligence, a demonstrated commitment to hard work and making government work for all, an instinct for finding common ground, and a record of accomplishment in past offices are also good indicators, and here too, Stein seems well-positioned for success.
In addition to having spent 16 active years in public office, Stein also enjoyed a highly successful tenure leading the attorney general’s Office of Consumer Protection, as well as a stint on Capitol Hill working on Edwards’ Senate staff.
He’s also become – especially over the past year– an accomplished public communicator who can fire up an audience and communicate well via video.
Now add to all this that the new governor is, by all indications, a happy (and even rather nerdy) husband, father, and son, for whom there’s never been a hint of scandal or self-dealing, and his prospects for success over the next eight years would seem bright.
The only problem in all of this, of course, is a rather sizable impediment to progress located a few blocks down the street from the governor’s mansion known as the General Assembly. As they did throughout Cooper’s term and, indeed, during Pat McCrory’s four years and Bev Perdue’s last two before that, Republican leaders of our state’s gerrymandered legislature remain hellbent on treating Stein like a hostile enemy to be fought and dominated at every turn.
The process commenced before he was sworn in with the enactment of a new series of power grabs designed to enfeeble the governor’s office and seems certain to continue going forward. And while Democrats technically broke the GOP’s veto-proof supermajority in the state House in the November election – a development that should boost Stein’s power and influence — the margin remains razor thin and extremely wobbly. And given that Republicans consistently eschewed good faith negotiations with Cooper during the years in which he could reliably sustain vetoes, it’s likely foolish to imagine that they’ll start behaving responsibly in 2025.
The new Trump administration’s likely efforts to bludgeon Democratic governors on any number of issues – from immigration to the environment to disaster relief – will serve as a bonus burden.
That said, all hope is far from lost. Despite similar obstacles, Cooper accomplished much during his two terms – including saving thousands of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and the monumental achievement of expanding Medicaid – and there’s no reason to think that, with enough hard work and truth-telling, Stein can’t do something similar. His early, laser-like focus on western North Carolina’s storm recovery is a promising sign.
In short, the task is huge and the roadblocks formidable, but Josh Stein has everything it takes to be a successful — and with a little luck, great – governor. Here’s wishing him that luck.