RALEIGH — Democrat Maurice “Mo” Green has defeated Republican Michele Morrow in a very tight race for state superintendent of schools.
Results are still unofficial, however, Green has received over 128,530 more votes than Morrow, or roughly a margin of around 2.35%.
Green, who has never run for an elected office before, won his primary race earlier this year with just under 66% of the vote, easily surpassing Katie Eddings, who finished second in the three-person race with just under 25% of the vote.
Green was the first black superintendent for Guilford County Public Schools (2008-15). He has also served as a deputy superintendent and general counsel for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district.
Following his work in Guilford County, Green became the director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (2016-23), known for funding progressive causes and left-leaning nonprofit and activist groups. Green left the position in 2023 to run for state superintendent.
Green, 56, holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a juris doctorate from the Duke University School of Law.
A key issue Green and Morrow differed on was the increasingly controversial issue of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
Green has said public schools should play a significant role in the promotion and use of DEI, whereas Morrow has said DEI’s only role in public schools should be “diversity of ideas” and diversity in teaching methods, and equity in opportunities for all students.
Green is also opposed to school choice options and wants to see the cap put back on the state’s rapidly growing public charter schools as well as an end to funding for the Opportunity Scholarship program, which supply grants for students to attend private schools.
In a press conference held by the N.C. Democratic Party this past March, Green characterized the state’s Parent’s Bill of Rights as a “false narrative.” The legislation was passed in 2023. The law also includes parental grievance policies, transparency policies and bars sexual topics and gender identity from being taught in grades K-4.
Morrow, who homeschooled her own children, campaigned on school safety, an emphasis on restoring critical thinking in schools, keeping special interest out of the classroom and putting academics first by vowing to “reduce top-down non-academic programming.”
The 52-year-old Morrow is a registered nurse by trade and holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from UNC Chapel Hill.
In an unexpected upset, Morrow defeated first-term incumbent State Superintendent Catherine Truitt in the March Republican Primary. Morrow, who has never held a political office, lost in her 2022 bid for a seat on the Wake County school board.
During the campaign, Morrow faced criticism for her attendance of the Jan. 6 protests in Washington, D.C., and also calling for former President Barack Obama to be executed in front of a firing squad.
