Election Day 2026 is less than four weeks away, and in-person early voting in North Carolina starts in one week. Do you and your friends have a plan to vote? Almost all of the important information you need to make a plan can be found here.
Here’s the short version of today’s post — I’m only voting for Democratic candidates in 2026. There was a time I would vote across party lines, but not in the age of MAGA. For me, running as a Republican without vocally opposing the current administration and the MAGA agenda is disqualifying in our Democratic Republic.
Also, a quick plug before moving on to the rest of today’s post: on October 19th, Governor Stein is coming to Winston-Salem to support Amara Hunter for Forsyth County District Attorney. You can RSVP here to join us!
Now, for the longer version of why I’m only voting for Democratic candidates in 2026, let’s look at the race for District Attorney in Forsyth County. While Carolina Democracy has primarily focused on the judicial candidates in our court system lately, District Attorney is another critical elected office in the North Carolina judicial system.
District Attorneys are responsible for prosecuting all criminal cases in their local districts. Since that is far more work than any single attorney could ever do, District Attorneys function much like a managing partner for a county-wide or multi-county law office managing dozens or more prosecutors and staff.
District Attorneys also make key policy decisions about how to focus limited resources. For example, will their office focus primarily on violent crime? Will they put more emphasis on drug distribution offenses rather than simple possession? While the law defines crimes and provides sentencing guidelines, District Attorneys and their staff have a lot of discretion to decide when and how to prosecute individual cases.
In Forsyth County, Amara Hunter—a former police officer and Assistant District Attorney who currently serves as a public defender—is the Democratic Nominee for District Attorney. Jim O’Neill is the Republican incumbent who has been serving since 2009.1
This is a race between non-controversial, qualified, and respected candidates at the local level. I do not know either candidate personally, but I share mutual friends with both. By all accounts, they are respected members of the local community. That makes this a great race to use as an example, especially since much of a District Attorney’s work is apolitical and nonpartisan.
A decade ago, I might have been torn. Ms. Hunter brings a breadth of experience to the position like few other candidates can. She would also bring a fresh perspective to an office that has had the same incumbent for over 16 years. On the other hand, one could make a compelling argument for keeping a respected incumbent with established working relationships.
However, in the age of MAGA, I will not consider voting for a Republican candidate unless they are a vocal opponent of the current administration and the MAGA agenda. Mr. O’Neill has openly embraced Trump in the past, and appears silent on the MAGA agenda today.2 Even setting aside his past embrace of MAGA, his silence today is enough to support my point here.
Politicians and political parties respond to one thing above all else — power. Power comes through winning elections. Winners are not incentivized to change. Lose enough, and change will eventually follow. We must make Republicans lose enough at the ballot box to convince them that tolerating white Christian nationalism and grossly anti-democratic policies is unacceptable.
In local elections, candidates are often friends, neighbors, colleagues, or community leaders we have already met or worked with. With personal connections, it’s easy to look past a candidate’s party. I have done that in the past, and I hope to be able to do it again someday. But not right now. Right now, we need accountability for a conservative party that is actively dismantling our democracy.
That’s why I’m proud to support Amara Hunter and all other Democrats running for election this year. If and when Republicans clean house and stop fighting against the values that make this country great, I’ll reconsider. The Spirit of ’76 envisioned a country where all people (ok, men, but we’ve obviously made some progress here even if we have a long way left to go) are equal with the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Only Democrats are fighting in support of that vision today. And that’s why Democrats like Amara Hunter deserve our support. If you are local to Winston-Salem and want to meet Ms. Hunter, or just want to support her race, she’ll be having a fundraiser on October 19th with Governor Josh Stein. You can register or contribute here.
P.S. - Don’t forget our great candidates running for state-wide judicial office, including Justice Earls for the N.C. Supreme Court and Judges Arrowood, Hampson, and Walczyk for the N.C. Court of Appeals. You can support these incredible Democratic candidates through our 2026 NC Judicial Slate.
For those beyond Forsyth County, NC, you may recognize Mr. O’Neill’s name as a Republican candidate for N.C. Attorney General in 2016 and 2020 and for Lieutenant Governor in 2024. In 2016 and 2024 he ran in his party’s primaries, and in 2020 he advanced as the Republican Nominee against then-Attorney General Josh Stein (now Governor).
In Mr. O’Neill’s 2020 campaign, he openly embraced Donald Trump and spoke in support at at least one Trump rally. His embrace of Trump and the MAGA agenda in 2020 is disqualifying for me absent a convincing repudiation. However, even absent his past embrace of Trump, Mr. O’Neill’s silence today would be enough for me to vote for his Democratic opponent.