North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein announced his gubernatorial campaign via a three-minute video on Jan 18., reflecting on his father’s role in the civil rights movement and taking aim at Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, his most potential opponent in the race.

Stein, a Democrat, has been a long-time ally of Gov. Roy Cooper, who miraculously secured two terms as governor. Prior to being sworn in as attorney general under Cooper, Stein was a state senator.

As attorney general, Stein is the highest ranking lawyer in the state and has an impressive record, being a graduate of Dartmouth and Harvard. His time in office as attorney general has been defined by his impressive fight against the opioid epidemic, protecting North Carolinians from fraud schemes and not backing away from encounters with the oil industry.

Ideologically, Stein naturally doesn’t stray far from Cooper’s platform — he’s been an integral part of Cooper’s administration. As a moderate, most of his criticism from his Democratic base comes from his inaction on issues, specifically when dealing with police reform and climate action. In all, Stein boasts a respectable resume for a governor-hopeful, where a term of his would likely be similar to a continuation of Cooper’s time in office. According to a High Point University poll taken in December 2022, Cooper garnered an approval rating of 49%, as opposed to President Joe Biden’s 33%.

However, Stein’s moderate standpoint might not be enough to defeat his most likely opponent, Robinson.

Robinson has shown he truly does not care about what others think of him. He has proudly said women are not fit for leadership, called homosexuality “filth,” promoted several antisemitic conspiracy theories and decreed abortion a “scourge that needs to be run out of this land,” despite admitting he paid for an abortion decades ago. Surprisingly, this approach appears to be doing numbers for him.

Carolina Forward, an independent nonpartisan nonprofit, released poll data that tracks Robinson as the definite Republican nominee, receiving 54% of the vote, the second highest going to Sen. Thom Tillis with only 20%.

Today, Cooper and his veto powers, supported by 20 democratic senators, are the only things allowing women in North Carolina to keep their bodily autonomy. A Robinson governorship would dismantle these rights, as North Carolina’s Republican Party has all but a supermajority in the General Assembly and has been waiting for its moment to take these rights away ever since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

It is clear Robinson is a threat to the personal freedoms of North Carolinians, but Stein can’t wedge his bets on winning due to this fact. Candidates with similar sentiments, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, were able to find their way into office, continuing a trend of extreme outspoken Republicans being elected to positions of power for the immense attention and energy they attract.

Stein made a solid first step in his gubernatorial announcement video by making it evident that Robinson wants to restrict your personal freedoms, but is Robinson hiding this at all?

The key to winning the gubernatorial election for Stein is taking a proactive and aggressive approach. 

Cheri Beasley, North Carolina’s Democratic nominee for the open U.S. Senate seat in 2022, campaigned using the sentiment that both parties are flawed, and her approach, while registered with the Democratic party, would’ve benefited all of North Carolina. Beasley lost the election by over 120,000 votes.

As it stands, Stein’s approach reflects Beasley’s. In a country as polarized as today, I seriously doubt any registered Republican would vote for a Democrat and vice versa. 

Stein can’t count on recruiting Republicans for his cause. He needs to focus on what is attainable and rally North Carolina’s Democrats and Independents against Robinson’s dystopian goals.

In its current state, Stein’s campaign is doing little to energize his Democratic base. His current promises are grounded in the fact that he won’t take the personal freedoms of North Carolinians, but shouldn’t this be the bare minimum? If Stein wants to become North Carolina’s next governor, he needs to capitalize on his assertive campaign against the opiate and oil industries and show North Carolina that he is willing to move forward in a state where the goals of Democrats are to simply keep democracy alive. The stakes are too high to fail.