Mitch Kokai, Senior Political Analyst with John Locke Foundation

October 26, 2025·1 hr·4 clips

North Carolina Republicans are redrawing congressional maps to flip a swing district, risking a potential Democratic backlash.

Don Curtis starts locally. He brings Mitch Kokai back as a familiar voice, with a nod to his journalism background and his role at the John Locke Foundation. Redistricting takes the first slot. Curtis frames it as parties moving past the old once-a-decade rhythm and looking for another congressional seat when they can get one. The shutdown is also hanging over the conversation. In the excerpt, Kokai mostly steps in after Curtis lays out the practical political question. Markets become one way to read the moment. Kokai notes that the stock market has not treated the chaos as a reason to drop hard. For Trump's administration and supporters, that matters. If markets hold up, they have more room to shrug off criticism from free-trade advocates. Trade then folds into Trump's larger style. Kokai describes him as someone who likes shifting pronouncements because they keep other players guessing. The point is leverage. Under that view, uncertainty is not random noise. It is part of how Trump bargains. Curtis then turns to retribution and asks whether Trump might ease off if the public does not seem very supportive. Kokai answers carefully. The public may not love it, but it has not clearly punished Trump either. His loudest critics were already against him, and his supporters have not walked away over legal attacks on enemies.

As heard by us

North Carolina politics, laid out in patient, practical radio.

Carolina Newsmakers stays with Mitch Kokai as he talks through North Carolina redistricting, the shutdown, and Trump's governing style. Don Curtis keeps the questions open enough for Kokai to spell out the practical stakes, and Kokai's mix of journalist and analyst gives the…

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You want North Carolina redistricting and shutdown politics unpacked in a calm, conversational interview.

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