Now What? How North Carolina Can Blaze a Progressive Path Forward

Commentator Gene Nichol offers inspiration and ideas for blazing a progressive path forward in North Carolina, a decidedly purple state.

In the 2024 election cycle, there was good news and bad news for North Carolina progressive politics. The people elected a Democratic Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and managed to obtain a tiny toehold with the General Assembly. However, Trump prevailed in the state and nationally-leaving a large number of progressives with a lot of political energy and no place to go. So, what now? What next? Gene Nichol writes to those who are well aware of the issues that North Carolina and the country at large now face. This book tackles the all-important question of how progressives can continue to move the state forward, tackling the opposition and their own flagging spirits.

Gene R. Nichol is a law professor, commentator, and author of Indecent Assembly: The North Carolina Legislature’s Blueprint for the War on Democracy and Equality (Blair) and The Faces of Poverty in North Carolina: Stories from Our Invisible Citizens. He was director of the UNC Poverty Center until it was closed by the UNC Board of Governors for publishing articles critical of the then governor and General Assembly. Since 2015, his research has been supported by the North Carolina Poverty Research Fund. He lives in Chapel Hill, NC.