NC SPIN Posts by John Hood

How to discourage migrants

The U.S. Census Bureau just confirmed what everyone already suspected: North Carolina now has more than 10 million residents. We’ve been adding an average of 281 people each day. That’s one of the...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 24, 2015

Carolina Comeback is very real

Over the next 12 months, expect to hear a great deal about the “Carolina Comeback.” It will be the reelection theme for Gov. Pat McCrory and other Republican leaders. And it will be the subject of...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 21, 2015

Nomination my tip state races

Pat McCrory, Roy Cooper, Richard Burr, and many other confirmed or potential candidates for statewide office in North Carolina have plans. They have strategies. They have backers, and staffers, and...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 16, 2015


Trump support is about defeat

As I argue with Trump supporters — or at least watch as they stamp around like Rumpelstiltskins when the real identity of their hero is revealed — something about the Donald’s following is...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 15, 2015

Activists oppose free speech

However complicated you want to try to make it, the concept of free speech does not contain the right to shut other people up. Unfortunately, there is an entire movement of political activists right...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 14, 2015

Budget news is too good

A year ago, the sky was falling in North Carolina — fiscally speaking, I mean. During the latter part of 2014, liberal editorialists and Democratic operatives repeatedly predicted that the state...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 9, 2015


Grade us on the curve

As the 2016 election cycle approaches, North Carolina voters will witness a spirited political debate about how best to promote economic growth. Democrats will argue for larger government and higher...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 7, 2015

Urban voters still outnumbered

Commentators and academic analysts trying to make sense of North Carolina’s fascinating and ever-changing politics have been arguing lately that the state is becoming increasingly urbanized — and...    Read More

by John Hood   |   December 2, 2015

Read income data carefully

Over the past 12 months, North Carolina has experienced faster income growth than the rest of the country, regardless of whether that growth is measured as average income per person or median income...    Read More

by John Hood   |   November 30, 2015


Election experiment to begin

North Carolina is about to run a political experiment. You and other potential voters will determine its outcome. The state has traditionally held party primaries for governor, Congress, legislature...    Read More

by John Hood   |   November 25, 2015