In a surprising upset last night, Michele Morrow defeated incumbent Catherine Truitt in the Republican primary race for North Carolina State Superintendent of public instruction. She maintained a four-to-six-point lead throughout the night, the race concluding after 1:00 this morning. She won with a lead of over four percentage points.
The final outcome was 52.1% for Morrow and 47.9% for Truitt, according to the NC State Board of Elections.
Morrow, a relatively new face in the game of politics, challenged the merit of Tuitt’s record by running against her in NC’s Republican primary. She has held no public office in the past, though she ran for Wake County Board of Education in 2022 and lost.
Morrow’s campaign has centered around issues such as the Parents’ Bill of Rights, school safety, and CRT indoctrination in the classroom. She has also drawn attention to the issues of fentanyl and academic achievement on X (formerly Twitter).
Following her victory, she will face the Democratic candidate, former Guilford County Superintendent Mo Green in November. Green won by a healthy margin with 65.88% of the Democratic vote, coming out above Katie Eddings and Kenon Crumble. His campaign is focused on “invest[ing] fully in public education” and “ensur[ing a] safe and secure learning environment.”