The battle for the future of North Carolina heats up

And the Biden administration goes big on pro-worker policies.

When Anderson Clayton was elected to lead the North Carolina Democratic Party last year, she was just 25 years old, meaning she has skin in the game when it comes to her state’s future.

In an interview with Cardinal & Pine, Clayton warned that this future will be much darker if Mark Robinson were to become the state’s next governor and Michele Morrow its next Superintendent of Public Instruction.

“Mark Robinson is not someone that wants to protect the people of North Carolina,” Clayton said. “Regardless of what your geographic destiny is right now, regardless of what your zip code, your sexual orientation, your ethnicity, your creed, anything—Mark Robinson doesn’t have the idea or the platform or the plan to make sure that we’re protecting North Carolinians.”

Robinson, the state’s current lieutenant governor, has compared abortion to genocide and slavery, and labeled women and teen girls who have had abortions as “murderers.” He has uttered multiple anti-semitic slurs, has called the Holocaust “hogwash,” claimed feminism was “created by Satan,” and called LGBTQ people “filth” and “demonic.” 

Morrow, meanwhile, believes teachers should be able to carry concealed weapons in the classroom, but not be required to use them to protect students from a school shooting. She has tweeted that President Obama should be executed by firing squad on Pay-Per-View TV. She also called for North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and other Democrats to be executed.

“Anyone that wants to teach our students, they shouldn’t be able to say they want to see public executions of anyone that’s been elected to public office,” Clayton said. “It’s quite terrifying.”

Read more of our interview with Clayton here:

More from COURIER’s other newsrooms:

FLORIDA

DeSantis ‘will not comply’ with rules to protect transgender students

From Floricua: Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week that Florida “will not comply” with changes to Title IX made by President Joe Biden’s administration that add protections for transgender students to the federal civil rights law on sex-based discrimination. 

VIRGINIA

Kaine, Warner urge federal agency cover IVF treatment for public workers

From Dogwood: Virginia’s two Senators were among a group of lawmakers defending access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, which has entered the national spotlight after an Alabama ruling made it a new battle in the right’s war on reproductive freedom.

Arizona

Arizona State Senators indicted for fake election scheme

From Copper Courier: Eighteen individuals involved in a conspiracy to overturn Arizona’s election results in 2020 were indicted by a grand jury last week. Two of the fake electors are state senators: Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern.

IOWA

Iowa parents explain how ‘fetal personhood’ would harm IVF

From Iowa Starting Line:  In 2021, between 511 and 1,120 infants in Iowa were born with assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

PENNSYLVANIA

Pushback forces a PA School Board to rescind its decision to deny a gay actor’s visit

From The Keystone: Cumberland Valley School Board offered a public apology and voted to reinstate Maulik Pancholy as a guest speaker a week after the board voted to ban him over his sexuality and anti-bullying advocacy.

NEVADA

‘Like a weight of rocks has been lifted off my back:’ Nevada teacher thanks Biden for erasing student debt

From The Nevadan: As the Biden-Harris campaign seeks to court educators, one Las Vegas teacher says she had $60,000 in loans forgiven by the president’s executive action. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Education Commissioner blasted for injecting culture wars into New Hampshire schools

From Granite Post: The presidents of New Hampshire’s largest teachers' unions had scathing feedback for embattled New Hampshire education commissioner Frank Edelblut last week after his response to a bombshell NHPR report.

MICHIGAN

Biden administration bans non-compete clauses for workers

From The ‘Gander: An estimated 30 million American workers are currently affected by noncompete clauses—that’s roughly 18% of the US workforce. These clauses have been shown to lower workers’ pay and restrict their opportunities and mobility. 

WISCONSIN

Biden makes 4 million more workers eligible for overtime pay

From Up North News: The Biden administration announced a new rule in April to expand overtime pay for around 4 million lower-paid salaried employees nationwide. 

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