When they are challenged on their authoritarianism, North Carolina Republicans’ most frequent ploy is to retrieve grievances from decades ago. The party is run by a coterie of legislators who suffered years of irrelevance and disrespect at the hands of the eastern North Carolina Democratic machine, and these people still enjoy resurrecting Democratic misdeeds to justify their own malfeasance. 

While it certainly appears that a “red wave” washed over the United States on Nov. 5, that’s not exactly the case in North Carolina, where Democrats held onto critical Council of State offices and made solid gains where it really counts — in the General Assembly. 

The legacies of Western North Carolina’s two previous Republican congressmen, Mark Meadows and Madison Cawthorn, haven’t exactly aged well. 

Among the most important races in North Carolina is the contest to see who will become the state’s next attorney general, the office that represents the state in legal proceedings while also offering legal advice to prosecutors and law enforcement across the state. 

There are two seats open on the Swain County Board of Commissioners this year, and voters will see four candidates on the ballot. However, in a slightly unusual turn, two of those candidates are unaffiliated. 

North Carolina’s four westernmost state legislators are all seeking reelection this year, but their campaigns are about much more than just their individual races. Each one of them is an integral part of the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, which has a long-term view of what the state should look like in 10 years. 

To the Editor:

I am concerned about the effects of “Project 2025” — the Republican playbook for a second Trump administration — on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Project 2025 aims to change how federal agencies operate, and it could harm NOAA’s ability to do its work. 

The race for state superintendent will determine who will support and advocate for the state’s 2,500 public schools and lead the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). This election cycle, it also a race in which experience in public education is pitted against an outsider to the system.  

Kevin Ensley and Brandon Rogers, respectively chair and vice chair of the Haywood County Board of Commissioners, both ran for reelection last in 2020 amid unprecedented economic challenges and a contentious national election. It’s little different this time.  

To the Editor:

Present-day political unrest reminds me of the Spanish cellist, conductor and composer, Pav Casals, known in English by his Spanish name, Pablo Casals. Casals was born in El Vendrell, Spain, Dec. 29, 1876. He lived in France after 1936 and Puerto Rico after 1956, where he died, Oct. 22, 1973.