by Christopher Cooper
We just finished the 2026 primaries in North Carolina. And, while the major storylines are about the outcomes, we should take note of the people who didn’t make the headlines: election administrators.
That’s as it should be. Election administration is a profession whose measure of success is when they’re invisible. Perhaps no better example of their success—and their importance—came during Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina.
By Michael Bitzer
From Vietnam to Iraq to more recent military engagements, the balance of war-making authority between Congress and the president has been a recurring point of conflict in American politics. The Constitution divides this power—giving Congress the authority to declare war while making the president commander-in-chief—but in practice the boundaries between the two branches have often blurred. A recent survey of North Carolinians shows that while the institutions may clash, public opinion still leans strongly toward maintaining the constitutional balance.
In a previous post on North Carolinians and their opinions regarding war powers, it was noted that “nearly three-quarters of North Carolinians say presidents should seek congressional authorization before engaging the U.S. military,” according to the Catawba-YouGov Survey conducted in August 2025.
This is one of the many shared powers between the legislative and executive branches of government, which many Americans know as “checks & balances” (political scientists tend to use the phrase ‘separate institutions (of government) sharing power’, in this case, the war making power).
By Michael Bitzer
With continuing U.S. military action involving Iran, the question of who should authorize military force—the president or Congress—has once again returned to the forefront of American politics.
But where do North Carolinians stand on the division of governing authority over war powers?
In August 2025, the Catawba-YouGov Survey posed a series of questions about governing authority and constitutionalism to 1,000 North Carolinians.*
Among the governing authorities and powers in the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8 states “The Congress shall have Power…To declare War … To raise and support Armies…(and) To provide and maintain a Navy.” In Article 2, Section 2, the Constitution states “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States….”
In the survey, respondents were asked the following question:
How important is it that the president must seek authority from Congress to engage the U.S. military against another nation?
by Christopher Cooper
We’re a week out from the 2026 Primary in North Carolina, and the dust is settling — slowly. We still don’t know who won the most consequential legislative race in the state and we won’t know who actually showed up to vote until canvass closes and the voter history file drops. But with a little distance, a few things are coming into focus.