RALEIGH — Congressman Jeff Jackson (NC-14) defeated Republican Congressman Dan Bishop (NC-08) in the race for North Carolina attorney general.
Bishop has called Jackson to congratulate him on the win.
Jackson was a state house senator for eight years serving Mecklenburg County before heading to Congress. His successor in the General Assembly is state Sen. Rachel Hunt, who is the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor this cycle.
Prior to running for his U.S. House seat, Jackson considered challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in 2020, however, Democrat Senate Leader Chuck Schumer was more interested in fundraising than Jackson as a candidate, as Jackson himself described during a September 2019 talk he gave at UNC Charlotte.
Jackson explained that Schumer told him, “We want you to spend the next 16 months in a windowless basement raising money, and then we’re going to spend 80% of it on negative ads about Tillis.” Jackson quit the race that December.
He had also jumped into the senatorial race in January 2021 when Sen. Richard Burr announced he would retire. Jackson raised more than $3 million in the six months his campaign lasted before he stepped aside in December of that year after former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley announced she was running. Republican Ted Budd ended up defeating Beasley in the 2022 general election.
Jackson has become well known for using the social media app TikTok to deliver messages to voters and his constituents. Despite his TikTok usage, Jackson voted in favor of legislation (Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) in March of this year that designated the app as a “foreign adversary controlled application.” Jackson said confidentiality kept him from revealing the reason for his vote, and the bill became law in April 2024.
Jackson has spent 20 years in the military, including service in Afghanistan (2002), and is a major in the Army National Guard. Following his deployment, he pursued a law degree at UNC Chapel Hill and worked as an assistant district attorney in Gaston County before going into private practice with Womble Bond Dickinson. He also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Emory University.
Gov. Roy Cooper and current N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, both Democrats, endorsed Jackson for attorney general, as did a number of progressive groups and dozens of Democratic state legislators.
Jackson, 42, resides in Charlotte with his wife, Marisa, and their three children.
Bishop ran on a law-and-order platform focusing on crime and public safety while promising to restore the “rule of law” in North Carolina.
Key endorsements for Bishop included the North Carolina Division of the Police Benevolent Association (NCPBA) and more than 75 sheriffs and attorneys general in the state. The NCPBA endorsed Democrat Josh Stein for the office in past election cycles. Bishop received early endorsements from the Club for Growth as well as from former President Donald Trump.
Bishop was installed as the North Carolina Congressional 8th District representative after defeating Democrat Dan McCready in a September 2019 special election. Bishop received 50.7% of the vote to McCready’s 48.7%. In 2022, Bishop easily won reelection with nearly 70% of the vote.
While in Congress, Bishop was a member of the House Judiciary Committee and its subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government.
Bishop, 60, is an attorney by trade with 30 years of litigator experience. He received his law degree from UNC Chapel Hill with high honors and the Order of the Coif, as well as serving on the North Carolina Law Review. Bishop also has a degree in business administration from UNC Chapel Hill.
Prior to being elected to Congress in 2018, he served as a Mecklenburg County representative in the North Carolina General Assembly House (2015-17) and in the state Senate (2017-19). Bishop was also Mecklenburg County commissioner (2005-09).
Bishop resides in the Charlotte area with his wife, Jo, and has a college-aged son.
