# Josh Stein

Joshua Harold Stein (born September 13, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 76th governor of North Carolina since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, Stein served from 2017 to 2025 as the 51st attorney general of North Carolina and from 2009 to 2016 in the North Carolina Senate.
Born in Washington, D.C., Stein moved to North Carolina with his family at an early age. He studied at Dartmouth College and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School before being elected to represent North Carolina's 16th Senate district in 2008. Stein left the State Senate upon winning the Democratic nomination in the 2016 North Carolina Attorney General election, in which he defeated Republican nominee Buck Newton by 0.54%. He was reelected in 2020, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Jim O'Neill by 0.26%.
Stein chose not to seek a third term as state attorney general and instead ran for governor in the 2024 election. After winning the Democratic nomination, he defeated Republican nominee Mark Robinson in the general election by 14.82%.

## Early life and education

Stein was born on September 13, 1966, in Washington, D.C., the son of Jane (Stoneman) and Adam Stein. His family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, before settling in Chapel Hill, where his father co-founded North Carolina's first integrated law firm.
Stein attended Chapel Hill High School and played on its state championship soccer team. After graduating, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Dartmouth College in 1988. After college, he taught English and economics in Zimbabwe. Stein went on to earn degrees from Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government.

## Early career

In the 1990s, Stein worked as an intern for State Representative Dan Blue. Out of law school, Stein worked for the Self-Help Credit Union and the North Carolina Minority Support Center. After managing John Edwards's 1998 U.S. Senate campaign, he served as Edwards's deputy chief of staff from January 1999 to December 2000. According to Edwards official Andrew Young, Elizabeth Edwards prevented her husband from naming Stein his chief of staff in the Senate because he withheld information from her at John's direction.
In 2001, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper appointed Stein as Senior Deputy Attorney General for Consumer Protection. He held that position until his election to the State Senate in 2008. From 2012 until 2016, he served as of counsel at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, a regional law firm.
Stein defeated Republican John Alexander to represent the 16th district in the North Carolina Senate in 2008. After being reelected in 2010, he was elected minority whip by his colleagues.
In the Senate, Stein worked to expand the state's DNA database, ban cyberstalking, extend and expand the state's renewable energy tax credit, and improve school safety.

## North Carolina Attorney General

In 2016, Stein became the first Jewish person to win a statewide election in North Carolina. As attorney general, he worked to eliminate North Carolina's backlog of untested sexual assault kits, the nation's largest. This led to arrests in cases involving a 2015 assault and attempted murder in Durham, North Carolina; assaults in 2009 and 2010 in Fayetteville; and a 1993 assault in Winston-Salem.
Stein led the bipartisan effort of state attorneys general to negotiate a national settlement framework with drug companies—manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy chains—over the nation's opioid epidemic, totaling more than $50 billion. North Carolina's share of the settlement was $1.5 billion. Stein negotiated a memorandum of agreement with the state's counties that ensured the vast majority of the funds would go to prevention, harm reduction, treatment or recovery. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health recognized this partnership as one of the best in the nation.
In 2018, Stein filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court arguing in favor of the Affordable Care Act. In 2019, he became the country's first attorney general to sue e-cigarette manufacturer Juul for unlawful marketing to minors. Stein won multiple settlements with Juul totaling nearly $48 million, setting a standard the rest of the nation followed.
Stein filed briefs supporting medication abortions and opposing restrictions on women from traveling to receive healthcare. He opposed the state's 12-week abortion ban enacted in 2023.
Stein negotiated eight Anti-Robocall Principles with a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general and 12 companies to protect phone users from illegal robocalls. He also launched Operation Silver Shield, an effort to protect older North Carolinians from fraud and scams.
After the COVID-19 pandemic began, Stein won a preliminary injunction against a Charlotte tow company sued for price-gouging and announced the investigation of nine North Carolina–based sellers on Amazon accused of raising prices on coronavirus-related products, including hand sanitizer and N95 masks. Stein won more than $1 million in price-gouging cases.
On August 21, 2021, the legislature voted to remove Stein as its legal representation before the courts after he refused to appeal the findings of a lower court that a North Carolina state law that disenfranchised anyone convicted of a felony was unconstitutional. Stein said he had been waiting for the ruling to be formally filed. Legislative leaders alleged Stein was "slow-walking" the case to allow felons to vote in the next election.

## Governor of North Carolina
### Election

On January 18, 2023, Stein announced his candidacy for governor of North Carolina in the 2024 election. He was endorsed by Governor Roy Cooper and hundreds of other elected officials and organizations.
On Super Tuesday, Stein advanced to the general election and faced Republican lieutenant governor Mark Robinson. After a CNN report on inflammatory and antisemitic comments Robinson had made on a pornography forum, Stein became the heavy favorite.
Stein won the election by a margin of 14.8%, even as Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris by 3.2% in the concurrent 2024 presidential election in North Carolina. Stein had previously won statewide by only 0.54% in 2016 and 0.26% in 2020.

### Tenure

On January 1, 2025, Stein was sworn in as the 76th governor of North Carolina, becoming the state's first Jewish governor.

## Personal life

Stein is married to Anna Harris Stein. They have three children. He and his family are members of Temple Beth Or, a Reform synagogue in Raleigh. He is a former YMCA basketball and J.C.C. soccer coach.

## Electoral history
### North Carolina Senate

2008 North Carolina Senate, 16th district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein | 58,357 | 60.83 |
| | Republican | John Alexander | 37,586 | 39.17 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 95,943 | 100.00 |
2010 North Carolina Senate, 16th district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein (incumbent) | 32,248 | 54.89 |
| | Republican | Michael Beezley | 24,466 | 41.64 |
| | Libertarian | Stephanie Watson | 2,040 | 3.47 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 58,754 | 100.00 |
2012 North Carolina Senate, 16th district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein (incumbent) | 69,405 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 69,405 | 100.00 |
2014 North Carolina Senate, 16th district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein (incumbent) | 42,422 | 67.11 |
| | Republican | Jason Mitchell | 20,791 | 32.89 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 63,213 | 100.00 |

### Attorney general

2016 North Carolina Attorney General primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein | 510,003 | 53.37 |
| | Democratic | Marcus Williams | 445,524 | 46.63 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 955,527 | 100.00 |
2016 North Carolina Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein | 2,276,410 | 50.27 |
| | Republican | Buck Newton | 2,256,178 | 49.73 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,532,588 | 100.00 |
2020 North Carolina Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein (incumbent) | 2,713,400 | 50.13 | −0.14 |
| | Republican | Jim O'Neill | 2,699,778 | 49.87 | +0.14 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,413,178 | 100.00 | N/A |

### Governor

2024 North Carolina gubernatorial primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein | 476,448 | 69.64 |
| | Democratic | Michael R. Morgan | 97,908 | 14.31 |
| | Democratic | Chrelle Booker | 45,695 | 6.68 |
| | Democratic | Marcus Williams | 38,996 | 5.70 |
| | Democratic | Gary Foxx | 25,100 | 3.67 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 684,147 | 100.00 |
2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein | 3,069,496 | 54.90% | +3.38% |
| | Republican | Mark Robinson | 2,241,309 | 40.08% | –6.93% |
| | Libertarian | Mike Ross | 176,392 | 3.14% | +2.04% |
| | Constitution | Vinny Smith | 54,607 | 0.98% | N/A |
| | Green | Wayne Turner | 49,384 | 0.88% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,591,547 | 100% | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |