You’ve probably seen the viral TikToks of a guy in a kitchen calmly explaining how a bill becomes a law or why your Congressional district just got redrawn. That’s Jeff Jackson. For a lot of folks, he was just "the TikTok guy," but as of 2026, he’s officially the guy running the North Carolina Department of Justice. The nc attorney general race wasn't just another down-ballot scuffle; it was a high-stakes, multi-million dollar collision between two very different visions of what a "top cop" should actually do.
Most people thought this would be a toss-up until the very end. Honestly, it kind of was. Jeff Jackson ended up pulling 2,874,960 votes, which translates to about 51.43% of the total. His opponent, Republican Dan Bishop, nabbed 2,715,411 votes (48.57%). That’s a gap of roughly 159,000 people in a state with over 10 million residents. If you’re looking for a "purple state" case study, this is basically the gold standard.
Why the nc attorney general race was so weirdly expensive
This wasn't just a local spat; it was one of the most expensive attorney general races in the entire country. We're talking tens of millions of dollars. Jackson alone raised over $15.4 million, while Bishop brought in around $8.9 million. Why so much cash for a job that mostly involves consumer protection and managing the state crime lab?
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Because in North Carolina, the Attorney General office is the traditional trampoline to the Governor’s mansion. Look at Roy Cooper. Look at Josh Stein. Both took the AG-to-Governor pipeline. National donors knew that whoever won this race would likely be the face of their party in North Carolina for the next decade.
The Candidates: A Study in Polar Opposites
Dan Bishop isn't some low-profile backbencher. He’s the guy who literally wrote HB2—the "bathroom bill" that cost the state billions in lost business and sports tournaments back in 2016. He leaned hard into that "law and order" brand, calling Jackson "woke" and arguing that the state needed a prosecutor who wouldn't hesitate to use the office as a conservative firewall.
Then you have Jackson. He’s a former Gaston County prosecutor and an Afghan war veteran who still serves in the National Guard. He got gerrymandered out of his Congressional seat by the GOP-led legislature, which is actually why he ran for AG in the first place. His campaign was basically built on "being a normal person" who just wanted to talk about fentanyl and scammers instead of culture wars.
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What actually happened on election night
The map tells a wild story. Bishop actually won 10 out of the 14 congressional districts in the state. If you looked at a map by land area, it would look like a Republican landslide. But Jackson did what Democrats have to do in the South: he ran up the score in the "Research Triangle" and Charlotte.
- Wake County: Jackson dominated here.
- Mecklenburg County: His home turf, where he crushed it.
- The Flips: Interestingly, a few rural counties like Martin, Pasquotank, and Scotland actually flipped from blue to red this cycle, showing that the rural-urban divide is only getting wider.
The turnout was massive—73.73%. People weren't just showing up for the top of the ticket; they were specifically tuned into this AG fight. Bishop conceded around 11:32 p.m. on election night, which was surprisingly early given how tight the polls had been.
The Fentanyl and AI Factor
Jackson spent a lot of time talking about things that didn't sound like typical political talking points. He focused heavily on the fentanyl epidemic, noting that North Carolina loses an average of nine people a day to overdoses. He also made a big deal about AI-enabled scammers. It was a smart move. It made him look like he was focused on 2026 problems rather than 2016 grievances.
Is North Carolina still a "Democratic" AG state?
Here is a stat that will blow your mind: a Republican hasn't won the nc attorney general race since 1896. Think about that. Through the civil rights movement, the Reagan years, and the rise of the Tea Party, North Carolina voters have consistently picked Democrats to be their top lawyer.
Why? It might be because the AG is seen as a check on the General Assembly. Since the legislature is often heavily Republican due to redistricting, voters seem to like having a Democrat in the Justice building to keep things balanced. It's sort of a "don't put all your eggs in one basket" mentality that's unique to North Carolina's political DNA.
Real-world impact in 2026
We're already seeing what this win means in practice. Just recently, in January 2026, Jackson filed a major lawsuit against the federal government over $50 million in cuts to rural education funding. He’s arguing the cuts were "unlawful" and "surprising." This is exactly the kind of thing Bishop said an AG shouldn't do (challenging federal/partisan priorities), but it's exactly why Jackson's base voted for him.
He’s also been pushing the General Assembly for new tools to fight AI-generated fraud. Whether they give him those tools is a different story—the legislature and the AG's office have a history of fighting like cats and dogs.
What most people get wrong about the office
Most people think the Attorney General is like the state’s "Head Cop." It's not really like that. They don't usually walk around with a badge making arrests. The job is much more about:
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- Representing state agencies in court (even when the AG doesn't like the agency's policy).
- Managing the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the crime lab.
- Handling criminal appeals—when someone is convicted of a felony, the AG's office handles the legal fight if that person tries to get the conviction overturned.
- Consumer Protection. This is the big one for everyday people. If a power company or a giant tech firm is screwing over North Carolinians, the AG is the one who sues them.
Actionable insights for NC residents
If you’re living in North Carolina, the results of this race affect your life more than the presidential election might. You should keep an eye on the "Consumer Protection" division of Jackson's office. If you get scammed by a "spoofed" phone call or a predatory lender, that's his department.
You should also watch the "Leandro" case. It's a massive, decades-long legal battle over school funding in NC. As AG, Jackson's stance on how the state should fund poor school districts will basically decide the future of education for a generation of kids.
To stay informed and actually use the resources your tax dollars pay for:
- File a complaint: If you’ve been scammed, don't just complain on Facebook. Go to the NC DOJ website and file a formal consumer complaint. They actually investigate these.
- Monitor the Crime Lab: The DNA kit backlog has been a huge issue in NC for years. Check the DOJ's quarterly reports to see if the wait times are actually going down under Jackson's watch.
- Track the lawsuits: Follow how the office handles environmental cases. If a company spills chemicals into the Cape Fear River, the AG is the one who decides how hard to hit them with fines.
The 2024 race is over, but the work is just starting. Jackson has a four-year term to prove he's more than just a guy with a ring light and a TikTok account. Whether he can actually lower fentanyl deaths or protect seniors from AI scams will determine if that 130-year Democratic winning streak continues or if the GOP finally breaks through in 2028.