Josh Stein

Democrat. Governor of North Carolina.

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Age on Election Day 2028: 62; On November 7, 2028. Born September 13, 1966.
Lean: R+1; Statewide, 2025 Cook PVI.
Governor since: 2025; Took office January 1, 2025.
Approval: 55%; 27% disapprove. Morning Consult.3
Survey dates April 1 to June 30, 2026

Reviewed November 5, 2026

Overview

Cash on hand: $5,853,363; North Carolina State Board of Elections, report of Josh Stein for North Carolina10; Reporting period ended June 30, 2026
Last election: 54.9%; Share of the vote.9; Election held in 2024

The state in 2024: Trump won North Carolina in 2024.
Earlier offices: North Carolina attorney general, 2017 to 2025
North Carolina Senate, 2009 to 2016
Lieutenant governor: Rachel Hunt (D)
2028 plans: No public statement on record.

Lean is the state’s 2025 Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI): R+5 to R+9 is lean Republican, R+10 and up solidly Republican, and D+ leans Democratic. Approval is the latest published Morning Consult rating, from its quarterly survey of registered voters in each state. Last election is the share of the vote the governor won. Cash on hand is the campaign’s money at the end of the reporting period named.

Sources (3)

1Josh Stein, official page Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://governor.nc.gov/josh-stein
22025 Cook PVI, state list (Cook Political Report), checked against the 2020 and 2024 presidential results Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.cookpolitical.com/cook-pvi/2025-partisan-voting-index/state-map-and-list
3Morning Consult, approval, April 1 to June 30, 2026 Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://pro-assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/2026/07/State-Leader-Pulse-Q2-2026.pdf

Term limit and tenure

Whether the state’s term limit lets the governor run in 2028, how many more terms the governor could win, and the latest date the governor could serve to.

Can the governor run in 2028?

Can run in 2028

The state’s limit allows the governor to be on the November 7, 2028 ballot.

Terms left from 2028: 1 more term; Further terms the governor could still win, from the 2028 election on.
Could serve to: January 1, 2033; 4 years past January 2029, winning every race allowed.

The rule

No person elected governor ‘shall be eligible for election to more than two consecutive terms’ of four years (N.C. Const. Art. III, Sec. 2).

Read the rule at its source (opens in a new tab)

Sources (1)

4The state’s term-limit rule Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.ncleg.gov/Laws/Constitution/Article3

The state’s rules for governor

What North Carolina’s own constitution or statutes ask of a candidate for governor, each from the official page that was opened.

Minimum age: 30 years oldStated in North Carolina Constitution, Article III, Section 2 (opens in a new tab).
Citizenship: A U.S. citizen for at least 5 years.Stated in North Carolina Constitution, Article III, Section 2 (opens in a new tab).
Residency: A resident of North Carolina for the 2 years right before the election.Stated in North Carolina Constitution, Article III, Section 2 (opens in a new tab).
Qualified voter: Must be a qualified voterArticle VI, Section 8 disqualifies, for any office filled by the people, a person who is not qualified to vote in an election for that office.Stated in North Carolina Constitution, Article VI, Section 8 (opens in a new tab).
Governor elections: The next is November 7, 2028.
Where candidates file: North Carolina State Board of Elections (opens in a new tab)Confirmed by N.C.G.S. 163-106.2(a): candidates for party primary nominations for Governor file their notice of candidacy with the State Board (opens in a new tab).
State government: nc.gov (opens in a new tab)

In the state’s own words

“No person shall be eligible for election to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor unless, at the time of his election, he shall have attained the age of 30 years and shall have been a citizen of the United States for five years and a resident of this State for two years immediately preceding his election.”

North Carolina Constitution, Article III, Section 2 (2)

“The following persons shall be disqualified for office: ... Second, with respect to any office that is filled by election by the people, any person who is not qualified to vote in an election for that office.”

North Carolina Constitution, Article VI, Section 8

Stated: the cited text says it. Follows from: it follows from two cited provisions, named in the note. Not stated: the cited text lists the rules and this is not among them. Not verified: the source could not be opened, so nothing is recorded. Pages opened October 3, 2026.

Sources (4)

5North Carolina Constitution, Article VI, Section 8 Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.ncleg.gov/Laws/Constitution/Article6
6North Carolina State Board of Elections Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.ncsbe.gov/
7N.C.G.S. 163-106.2(a): candidates for party primary nominations for Governor file their notice of candidacy with the State Board Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_163/GS_163-106.2.html
8North Carolina state government Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.nc.gov/

Election history

2024 election: Won with 54.9% of the voteOfficial results (opens in a new tab)
2028: The governor’s race is on the ballot November 7, 2028.

Sources (1)

9Official results, 2024 Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/ENRS/2024_11_05/results_pct_20241105.zip

Financial records

Cash on hand: $5,853,363
Reporting period ended June 30, 2026
Reported to: North Carolina State Board of Elections, report of Josh Stein for North Carolina (opens in a new tab)

Governors report campaign money to their own state, not the Federal Election Commission. The site shows it only where the state’s latest report could be checked.

Sources (1)

10North Carolina State Board of Elections, report of Josh Stein for North Carolina Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://cf.ncsbe.gov/CFOrgLkup/ReportSection?rid=233829&sid=STA-WP1LKA-C-001

Scorecards

Cato Institute fiscal report card (opens in a new tab) 2024 edition, before this governor took office: No score published

The Cato Institute’s Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors, a letter grade with its score out of 100. Its latest edition (2024) grades only governors then in office. The group’s name links to its scorecard.

“No score published” means the group published none, not zero.

Sources (1)

11Cato Institute fiscal report card scorecard Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.cato.org/white-paper/fiscal-policy-report-card-americas-governors-2024

Endorsements

Mirrored for Democrats: the Democratic Governors Association, Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and the Democratic Socialists of America, as Republicans are checked against Donald Trump, Club for Growth, Turning Point Action and MAHA PAC.

2028 race so far

None on record: Democratic Governors Association, Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Democratic Socialists of America.

Sources: Democratic Governors Association, site search ‘Stein’ (opens in a new tab); Justice Democrats, candidates (opens in a new tab); Working Families Party, ‘Our 2026 Candidates’ (opens in a new tab); Working Families Party, site search ‘Stein’ (opens in a new tab); Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, endorsements (opens in a new tab); Democratic Socialists of America, national endorsements (opens in a new tab).

2024 race

Endorsed: Democratic Governors Association.

None on record: Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Democratic Socialists of America.

Sources: DGA Statement on Attorney General Josh Stein’s Primary Victory (Mar. 5, 2024) (opens in a new tab); Josh Stein for North Carolina, endorsements (opens in a new tab); Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, 2024 archive (opens in a new tab); Democratic Socialists of America, national endorsements (opens in a new tab).

Endorsed: the group endorsed the officeholder in that race. None on record: no endorsement found in the sources listed.

Sources (9)

12Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Democratic Governors Association, site search ‘Stein’ Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://democraticgovernors.org/?s=Stein
13Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Justice Democrats, candidates Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://justicedemocrats.com/candidates/
14Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Working Families Party, ‘Our 2026 Candidates’ Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://workingfamilies.org/candidates/
15Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Working Families Party, site search ‘Stein’ Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://workingfamilies.org/?s=Stein
16Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, endorsements Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://weareprogressives.org/
17Endorsements, 2028 race so far: Democratic Socialists of America, national endorsements Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://electoral.dsausa.org/our-campaigns/
18Endorsements, 2024 race: DGA Statement on Attorney General Josh Stein’s Primary Victory (Mar. 5, 2024) Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/dga-statement-on-attorney-general-josh-steins-primary-victory-in-north-carolina/
19Endorsements, 2024 race: Josh Stein for North Carolina, endorsements Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://www.joshstein.org/endorsements
20Endorsements, 2024 race: Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, 2024 archive Open the source (opens in a new tab) https://weareprogressives.org/2024/

Sources

Each section lists its own sources, numbered through the page. Here they are together.

All sources for this record (20)

Overview

Term limit and tenure

4The state’s term-limit rule (opens in a new tab)

The state’s rules for governor

Endorsements

Continue

Record 6 of 11 in the governor field, in order of state.

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More in North Carolina

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