After a decade of being led by longtime Sen. Dan Blue, Democrats in the state Senate decided to elect a new leader this year. Sen. Sydney Batch became Senate minority leader last month. She’s a family law attorney who represents western Wake County since she was first elected to the House in 2018.Batch joined the WUNC Politics Podcast to talk about her approach to the leadership role, the potential for Democrats to impact legislation, and the upcoming budget process.

As state lawmakers debate how much money is needed for the latest Helene recovery package, Gov. Josh Stein’s administration is making the case for $1.07 billion to help western North Carolina rebuild. Matt Calabria, director of the newly created Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), spoke with WUNC's Colin Campbell about Stein’s Helene funding proposal, the state of federal recovery funding, and the biggest needs five months after the storm. Calabria also explained how his new organization will differ from the state's sluggish hurricane recovery programs from past storms.

Raleigh-based Republican consultant Carter Wrenn has had a front-row seat to decades of political history. He’s worked for the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and Ronald Reagan starting in the 1970s.He’s now written a book on his experience that offers an inside look at some key moments and controversial figures in politics. He spoke with WUNC's Colin Campbell about the book, “The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics,” and on some aspects of his political work that he’s come to regret.

This is the fifth episode in a new season of our Main Street NC series. We're visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face.Midway is one of North Carolina's newer towns formed to avoid becoming part of a neighboring city. The town in Davidson County that borders Winston-Salem boasts one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, while using its planning and zoning powers to limit suburban sprawl. That strategy has so far avoided the development controversies that impacted the similar town of Summerfield, but Midway offers a case study in how to form a town to cautiously manage growth. WUNC spoke with Mayor John Byrum about how the town was created in 2006 and what's happened there since.

This is the fourth episode in a new season of our Main Street NC series. In the coming months, we’ll be visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face.The Beaufort County town of Aurora, population 450, is one of a number of rural communities staking their economic futures on industrial park developments designed to attract employers. Longtime Mayor Clif Williams has been working for years on a 25-acre industrial park that will bring more jobs and a community college campus to the town that's seen a declining population — despite a thriving phosphate mine nearby that employs hundreds of people.WUNC spoke with Williams about the project, and other initiatives to bring growth to Aurora.

This is the third in a new season of our Main Street NC series. We're visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face.Historically Black neighborhoods in southeast Raleigh are rapidly changing, as older homes get torn down to make way for pricey new houses -- and many longtime residents are being pushed out by gentrification. WUNC visits southeast Raleigh to look at the shift and the city's efforts to create affordable housing and manage the growth pressures. Colin Campbell visits a barbershop and new restaurant and spoke with community activist Octavia Rainey and City Councilman Corey Branch.

This is the second in a new season of our Main Street NC series. In the coming months, we’ll be visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face.Mitchell County, about an hour northeast of Asheville, was hit hard by Helene in September. The storm flooded its downtown business districts, wiped out water and sewer systems and damaged homes and roads. More than two months from the storm, WUNC's Colin Campbell visited the county to find out where the recovery stands and what assistance from state and federal governments is still needed. Small business grants, private bridge replacements and infrastructure funding are among the needs, according to County Manager Allen Cook.

This is the first in a new season of our Main Street NC series. In the coming months, we’ll be visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face, from storm recovery to gentrification to job development. Nationally touring bands play regularly at the R.A. Fountain General Store in Fountain, a Pitt County town of just 400 people. Now the general store is no longer the only place to find music in this sleepy two-block historic downtown. A couple doors down from the concert venue, guitar maker Freeman Vines has set up his workshop in an old drug store. And the Music Maker Relief Foundation bought two more storefronts next to the Vines workshop to open a recording studio and photography studio to bring in musicians from across the South. Can music and arts be a revitalizing force in rural communities? WUNC visited Fountain and spoke with R.A. Fountain's Alex Albright and Music Maker's Tim Duffy about their efforts.

"Women are underrepresented at every level of North Carolina politics": that’s the eye-catching title of a chapter in a new book called "Anatomy of a Purple State: A North Carolina Politics Primer." The book’s author, Chris Cooper, professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University, has compiled statistics around the issue. Only 30% of next year's state legislators are female. Cooper joins WUNC's Colin Campbell to talk about the numbers along with Rep. Lindsey Prather of Buncombe County, who shares her experience in the legislature.Sign up for our free, weekly WUNC Politics Newsletter here.

The election results are in, and while a few races here in North Carolina are still too close to call, we’re popping into your podcast feed to share post-election analysis from WUNC’s Due South. Colin Campbell joined some other journalists and political scientists in the studio to parse through what the results mean for our state. Co-hosts Jeff Tiberii and Leoneda Inge delve into the races for governor, attorney general and beyond along with our purple state’s role in the outcome of the presidential election.