North Carolina’s new governor plans to deliver his inauguration speech indoors in a televised address after the outdoor public ceremony was canceled amid forecasts for snow, sleet and freezing rain
RALEIGH, N.C. — Because an open-air public inauguration ceremony was canceled due to winter weatherNorth Carolina’s new governor, Josh Stein, instead planned to begin his term with a televised address from home.
Stein was scheduled to deliver a speech in Raleigh on Saturday, instead of the originally planned swearing-in ceremony outside the old Capitol for the Democratic governor and other statewide executive branch officials within what is called the Council of State.
Forecasts for snow, sleet and freezing rain on Friday and parts of Saturday prompted the state’s founding commission to cancel public festivitiesincluding a block party that could be rescheduled. The official inauguration parties on Friday and Saturday evenings were also postponed.
Stein and several members of the Council of State – including the lieutenant governor, attorney general and state treasurer – had already taken their official oath privately or in small ceremonies at the beginning of the new year. Stein, who succeeded term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, gave a brief speech on Jan. 1 swearing in. Saturday’s speech, which was streamed by North Carolina Public Television, was expected to be longer.
Stein, the attorney general who for the past eight years then-Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson indicated in November that recovery from Hurricane Helene is a top early-term priority. He has visited western North Carolina twice since Jan. 1 and issued a half-dozen executive orders on the state government’s response to the historic flooding.
Republican state legislative leaders sounded hopeful Opening day of the General Meeting this week that they could work with Stein to approve more money for hurricane recovery in early 2025.
On more partisan issues, Stein has been in a better position compared to Cooper as of 2023 permanently block legislation that he issues a veto. Republicans are now united House sitting short of having a veto-proof majority in the legislature, meaning Stein’s vetoes could stand if Democrats remain united in the House of Representatives.
When Cooper became governor in 2017, approaching snow and sleet forced the cancellation of a public swearing-in ceremony and inaugural parade. Four years later, after Cooper’s re-election, COVID-19 restrictions derailed the rallies. A made-for-television inauguration ceremony for Cooper and other Council members was held outside the Executive Mansion.