To the Editor:

Donald Trump promised at the NRA convention to roll back gun control measures enacted under Biden and to fire the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

North Carolina’s four westernmost state legislators are all seeking reelection this year, but their campaigns are about much more than just their individual races. Each one of them is an integral part of the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, which has a long-term view of what the state should look like in 10 years. 

In a series of pointed comments, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance took aim at their respective opponents during separate visits to the Tarheel state last week, with Walz largely blaming former President Donald Trump for the country’s woes, while Vance continues to target unauthorized migrants. 

Editor’s note: This story is a compilation of Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt’s pop-up daily dispatches, “Via Chicago,” originally published online from the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago the week of Aug. 19. 

To the Editor:

I was in my 20s in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Legislative and legal decisions this year brought back memories from those days, and not pleasant ones.

To the Editor:

One of the things I find baffling about those on the other side of the political divide is that their fight for certain policies is inconsistent with a core value they espouse. 

June 24 marked the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Since then, 21 of 50 states have enacted some variation of abortion restrictions, whether that be an outright ban or a time limit for when the procedure can be performed.

To the Editor:

Recently Donald Trump spoke at the NRA convention and promised to roll back gun control measures enacted under Biden and fire the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

It’s been just over two years since a leaked draft opinion suggested the U.S. Supreme Court would vote to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, and it’s now been nearly two years since that actually happened.

To the Editor:

We now live in a free country. We cherished the freedom to worship as we choose; the freedom to pick our leaders, and the right to a free press; the freedom to teach our children as we choose; and the freedom to make choices about our bodies and who we love.