Politics in North Carolina can feel like a contact sport. We focus on the governor’s mansion or the screaming matches in the General Assembly, but we often ignore the person holding the literal checkbook. The North Carolina State Treasurer manages over $120 billion in pension assets. That’s not a typo. It’s one of the largest pools of public money in the entire world.
Honestly, most voters couldn't pick the Treasurer out of a lineup. But if you’re a teacher, a police officer, or a state employee, this office is basically the keeper of your future.
The 2024 election was a massive turning point because Dale Folwell, the long-time Republican incumbent known for his "stick-to-the-ribs" fiscal conservatism, decided to run for governor. He lost that primary, but it left the Treasurer seat wide open for the first time in years.
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The Face-Off: Briner vs. Harris
When the dust settled after the primaries, we were left with two guys who actually knew their way around a balance sheet. No career backbenchers here.
On one side, you had Brad Briner, a Republican with a pedigree that reads like a Wall Street fever dream. He’s a Morehead Scholar from UNC-Chapel Hill who went to Harvard Business School and ended up managing Michael Bloomberg’s billions. Literally. He was the Co-Chief Investment Officer at Willett Advisors.
Then you had Wesley Harris, the Democratic challenger. Harris is a PhD economist. He’s spent the last several years in the NC House representing Mecklenburg County. He grew up in rural Taylorsville, which he mentioned a lot to prove he wasn't just a "big city" guy.
It was a clash of philosophies. Briner looked at the numbers and saw a system that was underperforming. He pointed out that the pension fund’s returns—roughly 6.2% over the last two decades—were lagging behind other states. His big pitch? The "sole trustee" model is broken.
Right now, the North Carolina Treasurer is one of the few in the country with the power to make investment calls alone. Briner thinks that’s too much power for one person and wants a board of experts to share that burden.
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Why the Election Results Still Matter in 2026
The November 2024 election wasn't even as close as some pundits expected. Brad Briner won with about 52.5% of the vote, defeating Harris by roughly 270,000 votes.
Briner took office on January 1, 2025.
So why are we still talking about the "candidates" now that we’re into 2026? Because the promises made during that campaign are currently hitting the reality of the Raleigh bureaucracy. Briner isn't just sitting in an office; he’s trying to dismantle the very "sole trustee" power he campaigned against.
He's also dealing with the State Health Plan transition to Aetna, which has been a logistical headache for thousands of state employees in rural counties.
The Core Philosophies That Split the Ballot
Harris and Briner actually agreed on some stuff. They both knew the pension fund was underperforming. But their "fixes" were worlds apart:
- Wesley Harris wanted to use the "bully pulpit" of the Treasurer’s office to advocate for social investments. He thought the state was too scared of debt. He argued that if the return on an investment (like a bridge or a school) is higher than the interest on the debt, you take the debt.
- Brad Briner wants to run it like a private equity firm—minus the high fees. He’s been very vocal about "anti-ESG" (Environmental, Social, and Governance) policies. In 2023, the legislature passed House Bill 750, which basically told the Treasurer to stop worrying about social causes and just make money. Briner is the embodiment of that law.
The "Sole Trustee" Debate Explained (Simply)
Most people don't realize how weird North Carolina is. In most states, a board of trustees votes on where the money goes. In NC, the Treasurer is the "Sole Trustee."
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Briner’s win was sort of a paradox. He ran for an office specifically to give away some of the office's power. He believes that a small group of professionals can make better, more diverse investment decisions than one guy, no matter how smart that guy is.
If he succeeds in changing this, it will be the biggest shift in North Carolina financial history in fifty years.
What State Employees Need to Watch Right Now
If you're a state employee, the campaign rhetoric is over, but the consequences are live. Here is what's on the table in 2026:
- The Aetna Transition: The shift from Blue Cross Blue Shield to Aetna as the plan administrator is the biggest "on the ground" issue. If your local doctor isn't in the new network, that's a Treasurer problem.
- Pension Returns: Briner promised to "free up billions" by getting better returns. If the market dips and those returns don't materialize, the legislature might have to pump more taxpayer money into the fund to keep it solvent.
- The "Unclaimed Property" Side Quest: The Treasurer also handles "NC Cash," the mountain of forgotten utility deposits and uncashed checks.
Actionable Insights for North Carolinians
You've probably got money sitting in the Treasurer’s office and you don't even know it. Seriously.
- Check the NC Cash portal: Search your name and your parents' names on the official Department of State Treasurer website. People find hundreds of dollars every day.
- Monitor the Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) meetings: These are public. If you want to see if Briner is actually moving the needle on those pension returns, the minutes are posted online.
- Stay vocal on the State Health Plan: If you're an educator or state worker experiencing "network gaps" with Aetna, the Treasurer’s office is the place to file those complaints.
The 2024 race was a choice between an economist who wanted to use money for social progress and an investor who wanted to maximize the bottom line. The investor won. Now, in 2026, we’re seeing if "running the state like a business" actually pays off for the people who teach our kids and patrol our streets.
To stay informed, you should sign up for the Department of State Treasurer's monthly newsletter, which tracks the latest quarterly investment reports and updates on the State Health Plan's solvency.