Michael McElroy is Cardinal & Pine’s political correspondent. He is an adjunct instructor at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and a former editor at The New York Times.
Michael McElroy
Latest from Michael McElroy
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Trump’s spending freezes could disrupt clean energy boom in NC and increase household heating costs
Among the funding Trump is trying to halt: $160 million in payments to protect the state’s power grid from wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters like Tropical Storm Helene, which has caused billions in damage to western North Carolina.
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Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to throw out 65,000 votes finally gets a court hearing on the merits
There have been several previous rulings in separate courts, both state and federal, but those dealt with procedural issues. On Friday, a state judge will hear the first arguments about the fundamental questions at hand.
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Army helicopter pilot killed in DC plane crash was one of the NC voters Jefferson Griffin is trying to disenfranchise
Rebecca Lobach voted by absentee ballot in the 2024 election. She is among the more than 5,500 North Carolina active duty military voters out of state whose votes Jefferson Griffin is seeking to discard so that he can win the state supreme court election he lost.
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‘We’re not going anywhere’: This group of veterans warned about a second Trump term. Now they vow to hold him accountable
Veterans for Responsible Leadership spent the 2024 election warning that Trump was a threat to the ideals service members have fought and died for. With Trump back in the White House, what does resistance look like now?
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NC lawmakers return to Raleigh vowing to work together, but with an uncertain road ahead
The North Carolina General Assembly opened its new year with suggestions of bipartisan cooperation, even as they return to the site of several contentious debates. Republicans have lost their supermajority in the NC House, so will that sense of working together last or just fade into the din? Here’s what you need to know.
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Conservative voices join the outcry against Jefferson Griffin’s effort to overturn his election loss
A Republican angering Democrats in a fight over voting rights is one thing. But a Republican causing several conservative voices to align with Democrats against them highlights just how unprecedented Griffin’s effort is.
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NC Supreme Court stalls Jefferson Griffin’s effort to overturn his election loss, but hints at a long road ahead
The court ruled that Griffin improperly attempted to bypass a lower court when he petitioned the issue directly to them, and ordered the case sent to the Wake County Superior Court, which, by law, should have gotten first crack. And now, a case that has dragged well into the new year has no end in…
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The billionaires surrounding Donald Trump at his inauguration suggest who will most benefit from his second term
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to immediately end inflation and to make gas, food, and healthcare more affordable for the middle class, but the image of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk standing front and center during the inauguration suggested the middle class might not be on his priority list.
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On Tuesday, advocates will read the names of all 60,000 voters Jefferson Griffin wants to erase
A grassroots group and many of the lawful voters whose votes are being questioned will gather in the cold to read each name. Temperatures before dawn on Tuesday are expected to fall below 30 degrees in Raleigh, a data point you might assume has nothing to do with Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to erase…
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Could NC enact more abortion restrictions in 2025?
Republicans no longer have a supermajority in the NC House, but they need only one Democrat to join them, or to simply miss a vote, to still be able to override a veto from Josh Stein. And while Republican leaders have suggested they don’t expect a push for further restrictions in 2025, Democrats say they’ve…
