2 members of the US House are seeking to become North Carolina’s attorney general

RALEIGH, NC (AP) – North Carolina’s next attorney general will be one of two retiring members of Congress who have represented the Charlotte area on Capitol Hill and previously in the state Legislature.

Both Democratic U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson and Republican US Rep. Dan Bishop is a lawyer and prolific fundraiser. Each has argued that his rival is too radical to become the state’s top law enforcement official on Nov. 5.

The winner succeeds two-term Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic nominee for governor. Democrats have dominated the position — a Republican hasn’t been elected attorney general since 1896 — even though the GOP has performed well for decades in other statewide races. In both 2016 and 2020, Stein won by fewer than 25,000 votes over his Republican opponent.

This fall’s campaign has largely focused on who is best able to represent the nation’s ninth-largest state in court and keep its communities safe. While figures from the State Bureau of Investigation show that violent crime in North Carolina was higher in 2023 compared to a decade ago, it was largely flat compared to 2022.

The two candidates and their allied PACs were on track to spend at least $31 million combined on TV and online advertising during the campaign, according to data from AdImpact, which monitors campaign spending. The North Carolina race is among the most closely watched of the 10 attorney general elections taking place across the United States next month.

The Attorney General is charged with representing the state in court and defending the work of the locally elected district attorneys in appeals of criminal cases. AGs also make legislative recommendations to the General Assembly and have previously sued specific industries for damages, including tobacco, drug and social media companies.

That two members of the US Congress are seeking a post in state government reflects the position’s growing influence and increasingly partisan political role state attorneys general play when it comes to going to court to support or oppose federal government policies.

Jackson is an Afghan war veteran and National Guard attorney who has gained a large following on social media and was elected to Congress in 2022. He has said that his experience as a prosecutor — he worked as an assistant district attorney in Gaston County and handled various types of of cases – and his commitment to perform his duties in an impartial case makes him the most qualified candidate.

“The job is fundamentally about being a shield for people against those who mean them harm,” Jackson said in a recent interview. “I have spent my entire career doing that as a soldier, as a prosecutor. That is why I want to be a public prosecutor.”

Bishop, a longtime commercial litigation attorney, former Mecklenburg County commissioner and state legislator, joined Congress in 2019 and is a strong supporter of Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump.

Bishop downplayed Jackson’s legal history as an assistant prosecutor, highlighting what he calculates as his own 400-plus appearances in state and federal courts.

“What I’ve had is extensive and complex experience with the court system in North Carolina,” Bishop said in an interview. “He has had no career like it.”

Jackson said that if elected, he will work to counter the fentanyl overdose epidemic and fight fraudsters who are now using artificial intelligence techniques to trick consumers.

Bishop accused Jackson of having an “extensive record of being soft on crime and antagonistic to the police.” He said what North Carolina needs is “restoration of law and order” and that he would work to get what he considers liberal district attorneys who don’t.

The position has been a springboard for gubernatorial bids — outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper was attorney general for 16 years. In recent years, Cooper and Stein stopped short of defending state laws pushed by Republicans that they have determined are unconstitutional.

Jackson said in a recent interview that Stein was right to refuse to defend provisions in state laws that restrict medication abortions and mandate what a doctor must do before prescribing abortion pills.

But Bishop claims Stein’s motive for not defending state laws passed by the GOP-controlled General Assembly is to advance his political career — and he alleged Jackson would do the same if elected.

Jackson and Bishop served together in the state legislature, where Bishop carried out a 2016 law that prohibited cities from passing new anti-discrimination ordinances and required transgender people to use public restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates.

Jackson did not seek re-election to Congress this fall after the General Assembly drew legislative maps and placed him in a strong GOP district.

Jackson and his allies have also pointed to Bishop’s endorsement of Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson for governor, particularly after a CNN report alleging that Robinson made explicit racial and sexual comments on a pornographic website’s message board. Robinson has denied the claim.

When asked if he was comfortable endorsing Robinson, Bishop said he is focused on winning the attorney general’s race and that “whatever issues involve the governor’s race is between Mark and the voters.” But Jackson said it’s “absurd” that Bishop “can’t bring himself to say a single critical word” about Robinson.

Earlier this month, Bishop filed a suit for libel against Jackson’s campaign and others, arguing that at least some of them are at fault in a political survey that asks whether a voter would be more or less likely to vote for Bishop if he “represented people who stole money from the elderly.” Bishop says he has never represented such people. Jackson’s campaign has suggested the lawsuit will be unsuccessful.