Josh Stein

Joshua Stein (born September 13, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who serves as the 50th and current Attorney General of North Carolina, a position he has held since 2017. A Democrat, Stein previously served as a member of the North Carolina Senate representing District 16, located Wake County.

For persons of a similar name, see Joshua Stein (disambiguation).
Josh Stein
50th Attorney General of North Carolina
Assumed office
January 1, 2017
GovernorRoy Cooper
Preceded byRoy Cooper
Member of the North Carolina Senate
from the 16th district
In office
January 15, 2009 – March 21, 2016
Preceded byJanet Cowell
Succeeded byJay Chaudhuri
Personal details
Born (1966-09-13) September 13, 1966
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Anna Harris
Children3
EducationDartmouth College (BA)
Harvard University (MPA, JD)
WebsiteCampaign website
Official website

While a member of the North Carolina Senate, Stein announced in 2013 that he would run for re-election in 2014 and then for North Carolina Attorney General in 2016. His former boss, Attorney General Roy Cooper, successfully ran for Governor in 2016. Following his win in the Democratic primary, Stein resigned from his seat in the State Senate to focus on the race for Attorney General. Stein won the general election, defeating Republican Buck Newton.[1] Stein was re-elected in 2020, defeating Republican Jim O'Neill.[2]

Early life

Stein was born in Washington, D.C., the son of a civil rights attorney.[3] Stein's father, Adam Stein, co-founded North Carolina's first integrated law firm.[4] Stein graduated from Chapel Hill High School and earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College. After college, he taught English and economics in Zimbabwe.[5] Stein then went on to earn degrees from Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government.

Career

Stein has worked for the Self-Help Credit Union in Durham and for the United States Senate. Prior to serving in the North Carolina General Assembly, Stein spent eight years as North Carolina's Deputy Attorney General for Consumer Protection. From 2012 until 2016, he served as Of Counsel at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, a regional law firm.

Stein also worked with the North Carolina Minority Support Center, raising capital to invest in small businesses, and InterAct, Wake County's domestic violence prevention and care organization. Stein currently serves on the board of the Truth Initiative, America's largest non-profit public health organization.[6]

Stein was sworn into office as a member of the North Carolina Senate on January 15, 2009. After being re-elected, he was elected minority whip by his colleagues in December 2010.[7]

North Carolina Attorney General

As Attorney General, Stein has sought and received additional funding to test North Carolina's backlog of untested sexual assault kits.[8][9][10] This has led to new arrests in cases involving a 2015 assault and attempted murder in Durham, North Carolina;[11] assaults in 2009 and 2010 in Fayetteville;[12] and a 1993 assault in Winston-Salem,[13] among others.

Stein is among the four state attorneys general negotiating a national settlement framework with drug companies over the nation's opioid epidemic.[14] He helped finalize a settlement with the opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt in which the company agreed to pay $1.6 billion for its role in the epidemic.[15]

In 2018, Stein filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court arguing in favor of the Affordable Care Act.[16] In 2019, Stein became the first attorney general in the country to sue e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL for unlawful marketing to minors.[17]

Stein negotiated eight Anti-Robocall Principles with a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general and 12 companies to protect phone users from illegal robocalls.[18] He also launched Operation Silver Shield, an effort to protect older North Carolinians from fraud and scams.[19]

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stein won a preliminary injunction against a Charlotte tow company sued for price-gouging,[20] and announced the investigation of nine North Carolina-based sellers on Amazon who are accused of raising prices on coronavirus-related products, including hand sanitizer and N-95 masks.[21]

Recognition as a state legislator
  • Sierra Club of North Carolina named Stein a "2009 Environmental Champion of the North Carolina General Assembly" for his efforts to ban plastic bags on the Outer Banks and to clean up Falls Lake.[22]
  • North Carolina Association of Educators named him a "Rising Star" (2010)[23]
  • AARP Outstanding Legislator Award for Consumer Protection (2009)[24]
  • WakeUP Wake County Legislative Leadership Award (2009)[25]
  • North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association Legislator of the Year (2009)[26]
  • North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition Legislative Award (2009)[27]
  • The League of Conservation Voters presented Josh its "Rising Star, Green Tie Award" (2010) and named him their "Defender of the Environment" recipient (2016)."[28]
  • The NC Justice Center honored Josh as the 2011 "Defender of Justice" for his dedication to expanding opportunity and prosperity for and North Carolinians.[29]
  • Talking About Politics' Gary Pearce tapped Josh as the Democratic "MVP" for his "courage and conviction" and "political skills" during the 2013 long session.[30]
  • Equality NC selected Josh as the inaugural 2013 Jamie Kirk Hahn Ally Award for his longstanding efforts to enact the Nondiscrimination in State Employment Act.[31]
  • Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) honored Josh with its 2015 Legislator of the Year award for his work coauthoring legislation creating an all-offender ignition interlock law for anyone convicted of drunk driving.[32]

Personal life

Josh Stein is married to Anna Harris Stein and has three children: Sam, Adam, and Leah.[5]

Electoral history
2008 North Carolina Senate election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Josh Stein 58,357 60.83
Republican John Alexander 37,586 39.17
Total votes 95,943 100.00
2010 North Carolina Senate election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Josh Stein (inc.) 32,248 54.89
Republican Michael Beezley 24,466 41.64
Libertarian Stephanie Watson 2,040 3.47
Total votes 58,754 100.00
2012 North Carolina Senate election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Josh Stein (inc.) 69,405 100.00
Total votes 69,405 100.00
2014 North Carolina Senate election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Josh Stein (inc.) 42,422 67.11
Republican Jason Mitchell 20,791 32.89
Total votes 63,213 100.00
2016 North Carolina Attorney General primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Josh Stein 510,003 53.37
Democratic Marcus Williams 445,524 46.63
Total votes 955,527 100.00
2016 North Carolina Attorney General election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Josh Stein 2,276,410 50.22
Republican Buck Newton 2,256,178 49.78
Total votes 4,532,588 100.00
North Carolina Attorney General election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Josh Stein (incumbent) 2,713,400 50.13% -0.14%
Republican Jim O'Neill 2,699,778 49.87% +0.14%
Total votes 5,413,178 100.00% N/A

References
  1. Gannon, Patrick (November 29, 2013). "Josh Stein says he'll run for NC Attorney General in 2016". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017.
  2. "NC Attorney General Josh Stein wins reelection". newsobserver.com/. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  3. "Adam Stein". Ferguson Stein Chambers Gresham & Sumter. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007.
  4. "The fight goes on for Adam Stein". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  5. "Meet Josh". Josh Stein for Attorney General. Archived from the original on December 27, 2016.
  6. "Josh Stein". Truth Initiative. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  7. "NC Senate Democrats choose leaders". The News & Observer. December 18, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  8. DeWitt, Dave. "NC AG Stein Calls For More Funding To Test Backlogged Rape Kits". wunc.org. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  9. Donovan, Chelsea. "Attorney General announces Survivor Act; $6 million to combat rape test kit backlog". wect.com. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  10. DeGrave, Sam. "Attorney General announces $2M grant to begin clearing NC's 15,000 untested rape kits". Citizen Times. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  11. "4 Year Old Sexual Assault Cold Case Solved". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  12. "DNA Used to Charge Man in Series of Cold Case Rapes in Cumberland County". wfmynews2.com. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  13. "Rape Kit Test Leads to Arrest of 71-Year-Old Man in 1993 Assault". wfmynews2.com. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  14. Staff, WECT. "N.C. among four states that reach $48B settlement framework with drug companies over opioid epidemic". wect.com. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  15. Zezima, Katie. "Drug manufacturer Mallinckrodt to pay $1.6 billion to settle opioid claims". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  16. Emert, Jennifer (2018-12-18). "NC joins the legal fight over ACA; how the recent TX ruling could affect your benefits". WLOS. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  17. WRAL (2019-10-23). "North Carolina the first in the country to file lawsuits against e-cigarette companies". WRAL.com. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  18. "Attorney General Josh Stein leads 51 attorneys general, 12 companies in fight to stop robocalls". WNCT. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  19. "Attorney General Josh Stein Launches Operation Silver Shield with Anti-Robocall Initiative | News Break". News Break Raleigh, NC. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  20. "AG wins preliminary injunction against Charlotte tow company sued for price-gouging". WSOC. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  21. "Attorney General Josh Stein's office goes after N.C. based Amazon price gougers". WNCT. 2020-03-29. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  22. http://nc.sierraclub.org/work/docs/2009annualreport.pdf%5B%5D
  23. "Legislative Report Card" (PDF). North Carolina Association of Educators. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2010.
  24. "Freshman Wins AARP Legislator of Year Award". AARP. March 23, 2010. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017.
  25. Rindge, Karen (August 6, 2009). "WakeUP Wake County Applauds NC Senate for Advancing Mass Transit and Falls Lake Cleanup" (Press release). WakeUP WakeCounty. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017.
  26. Downey, John (October 9, 2009). "Two N.C. legislators get green awards". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  27. White, Julie (August 11, 2009). "North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition" (PDF). Letter to Josh Stein. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 23, 2011.
  28. "Defender of the Environment – Senator Josh Stein". North Carolina League of Conservation Voters. 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  29. "Senate Budget Cuts + Defenders of Justice Awards + Unemployed Workers in Limbo". North Carolina Justice Center. May 17, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  30. Pearce, Gary (July 24, 2013). "Democrats' MVP". Talking About Politics. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  31. "2013 Jamie Kirk Hahn Ally Award | Josh Stein". Equality NC Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  32. "MADD Announces 2015 Legislators of the Year". MADD. November 17, 2015. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2016.

Further reading
Legal offices
Preceded by
Roy Cooper		 Attorney General of North Carolina
2017–present		 Incumbent
North Carolina Senate
Preceded by
Janet Cowell		 Member of the North Carolina Senate
from the 16th district
2009–2016		 Succeeded by
Jay Chaudhuri
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