Josh Stein Bio
Joshua Harold Stein (born September 13, 1966) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 76th governor of North Carolina since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he is North Carolina’s first Jewish governor and previously served as the 51st attorney general of the state from 2017 to 2025. Before entering statewide office, he represented the 16th district in the North Carolina Senate from 2009 to 2016. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard University, Stein has built a career focused on consumer protection, public health, and legal reform.
Since taking office, Governor Stein has focused on public safety, economic development, and the priorities he advanced as attorney general. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, Anna Harris Stein, and their three children.
Early Life and Background
Joshua Harold Stein was born on September 13, 1966, in Washington, D.C., the son of Jane (Stoneman) and Adam Stein. He is of Jewish descent. His family later moved to North Carolina, first settling in Charlotte before making their home in Chapel Hill. His father, Adam Stein, co-founded North Carolina’s first integrated law firm, an early example of the family’s engagement with civic life in the state.
Stein attended Chapel Hill High School, where he played on the boys’ soccer team that won a state championship in 1983. After graduating, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Dartmouth College in 1988. Following college, Stein taught English and economics in Zimbabwe, an experience that broadened his worldview before he returned to the United States for graduate study.
He later earned both a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and a Master in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His combined training in law and public policy laid the foundation for a career in government service.
Path to US Politics
Stein’s entry into public life began in the 1990s with an internship in the office of North Carolina State Representative Dan Blue. After finishing law school, he joined the Self-Help Credit Union and worked with the North Carolina Minority Support Center, gaining hands-on experience with community economic development. He also managed John Edwards’s 1998 U.S. Senate campaign, an early introduction to statewide political organizing.
From January 1999 to December 2000, Stein served as deputy chief of staff for Senator John Edwards. In 2001, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper appointed him as Senior Deputy Attorney General for Consumer Protection, a position he held until his election to the State Senate in 2008. He also served as of counsel at the regional law firm Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP from 2012 to 2016.
In 2008, Stein won a seat in the North Carolina Senate representing the 16th district, defeating Republican John Alexander. After being reelected in 2010, his Democratic colleagues elected him minority whip. During his time in the Senate, he worked to expand the state’s DNA database, ban cyberstalking, extend the renewable energy tax credit, and improve school safety.
Josh Stein Career
Early Career (2008-2016)
Stein’s early career in elected office centered on his service in the North Carolina Senate, where he represented the 16th district from 2009 to 2016. He won his first race in 2008 and was reelected in 2010, eventually rising to the role of minority whip. His legislative priorities reflected a mix of criminal justice, energy, and education concerns.
Alongside his Senate duties, Stein maintained a part-time legal practice at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, bridging his work as a lawmaker with his training as an attorney. This period prepared him for a broader statewide role and helped him build a record on consumer and public safety issues that would shape his next campaign.
Attorney General of North Carolina (2017-2024)
In 2016, Stein won the Democratic nomination for attorney general and defeated Republican nominee Buck Newton by 0.54 percent, becoming the first Jewish person to win a statewide election in North Carolina. He was sworn in as the 51st attorney general of North Carolina in 2017. He was reelected in 2020, narrowly defeating Republican Jim O’Neill by 0.26 percent, and chose not to seek a third term.
As attorney general, Stein led the effort to eliminate North Carolina’s backlog of untested sexual assault kits, which at the time was the largest in the nation. The initiative led to arrests in cases reaching back decades, including a 2015 assault and attempted murder in Durham, assaults in 2009 and 2010 in Fayetteville, and a 1993 assault in Winston-Salem.
He also helped lead a bipartisan group of state attorneys general in negotiating a national settlement framework with drug manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy chains over the opioid epidemic, totaling more than $50 billion. North Carolina’s share of the deal was $1.5 billion, and Stein worked with the state’s counties to direct the majority of those funds to prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health later recognized this partnership as one of the best in the nation.
Stein filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court in 2018 arguing in favor of the Affordable Care Act. In 2019, he became the country’s first attorney general to sue e-cigarette manufacturer Juul over its marketing to minors, ultimately winning settlements totaling nearly $48 million. He also filed briefs supporting medication abortions, opposed North Carolina’s 12-week abortion ban enacted in 2023, and negotiated anti-robocall principles with a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general and 12 companies.
Governor of North Carolina (2025-Present)
On January 18, 2023, Stein announced his candidacy for governor of North Carolina in the 2024 election, earning endorsements from Governor Roy Cooper and hundreds of other elected officials and organizations. After winning the Democratic nomination, he faced Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson in the general election. Following a CNN report on inflammatory and antisemitic comments Robinson had made on a pornography website, Stein became the heavy favorite and won the election by a margin of 14.82 percent, even as Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris by 3.2 percent in the concurrent 2024 presidential election in North Carolina.
Stein was sworn in as the 76th governor of North Carolina on January 1, 2025, becoming the state’s first Jewish governor. In his early months in office, he has spoken out on a range of state issues, criticizing anti-Israel resolutions passed by North Carolina Democrats and calling for more police presence on the beat after the killing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte. He has also urged the state legislature to pass a law enforcement package to address vacancies.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Stein’s signature achievements, the 2016 attorney general race stands out as the first time a Jewish candidate won a statewide election in North Carolina, a milestone he repeated on a larger stage with his 2024 gubernatorial win. The elimination of the sexual assault kit backlog, the $1.5 billion opioid settlement, and the groundbreaking lawsuit against Juul each marked first-of-their-kind accomplishments for a state attorney general.
Josh Stein Career Wins
Joshua Harold Stein has compiled a steady record of electoral victories across more than 15 years in North Carolina politics, transitioning from a competitive state Senate race to increasingly comfortable statewide wins.
Statewide Election Highlights
Stein first won a North Carolina Senate seat in 2008 and was reelected in 2010, establishing himself as a reliable vote-getter in the 16th district. His first statewide victory came in 2016, when he edged Republican Buck Newton by 0.54 percent to become attorney general, and he held the seat in 2020 with an even narrower 0.26 percent margin over Jim O’Neill.
His most decisive win came in the 2024 gubernatorial race, when he defeated Republican Mark Robinson by 14.82 percent to become the 76th governor of North Carolina. That result marked a sharp departure from his earlier razor-thin statewide margins.
Other Wins and Achievements
Beyond elections, Stein secured a series of legal and policy victories as attorney general, including the Juul settlements totaling nearly $48 million, North Carolina’s $1.5 billion share of the national opioid settlement, and successful price-gouging cases that returned more than $1 million to consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also earned recognition from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health for his partnership with North Carolina counties on opioid funding.
Josh Stein Family
Family Background and Public Service
Joshua Harold Stein is the son of Jane (Stoneman) and Adam Stein, of Jewish descent. His father co-founded North Carolina’s first integrated law firm, a family legacy that helped shape Stein’s interest in public service and the law. He and his family are members of Temple Beth Or, a Reform synagogue in Raleigh, reflecting his ongoing engagement with the Jewish community in North Carolina.
Personal Life
Stein is married to Anna Harris Stein, and the couple has three children. The family resides in Raleigh, where Stein has coached youth basketball and soccer in past years. On May 17, 2025, his Chapel Hill High School 1983 state champion boys’ soccer team was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.