What’s next for Republicans defeated in NC? Vying for federal jobs and fighting GOP battles

Some of North Carolina’s most prominent Republicans lost their races last week. But with a second Trump administration in the offing and party jockeying in progress in Washington, some of them appear primed to stay in the mix.

Michele Morrow, who ran for superintendent of public instruction and lost to Democrat Mo Green, is the object of an anonymous “nomination” to serve in the Department of Education. In social media posts this week, she linked supporters to an online form — part of an open-source effort by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his allies to staff executive branch positions.

“Let’s help get Michele to Washington where she can fight to save our children in North Carolina and beyond!” a post from her account said Monday.

Prior to her run for superintendent, the conservative activist had called for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama, as well as a number of other prominent Democrats.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Morrow who has never before held public office or any paid employment in education, had received over 400 “votes” online. It’s not clear what role she would hold if appointed.

The account nominating Morrow online blamed Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson for her defeat.

“She narrowly lost the election, but that was due to the very poor performance of the GOP candidate for Governor (Mark Robinson), as that adversely affected several down-ballot candidates, like Michele,” the nomination form says.

Mark Robinson delivers defiant sermon while targeting 2026 Senate election

Robinson was defeated handily at the hands of Attorney General Josh Stein. But the lieutenant governor, who rose to prominence through headline-making speeches and declarations, delivered a new one after the election: a wide-ranging, 40-minute sermon addressing abortion, transgender people and his own political career. He repeatedly blasted elected officials in Raleigh and Washington, decrying them as selfish and cowardly.

“You need people who are there for the right reasons,” Robinson said. “That’s what’s wrong with Washington D.C. right now. It is full of people who are there for the wrong reasons. People who sit there and declare, ‘this is my seat. I don’t want to lose my seat. I’m fighting to keep my seat.’ Who told you it was your seat?”

And he made it clear he was uninterested in being welcomed into elite circles. Top Republicans abandoned Robinson’s gubernatorial bid following reporting by CNN.

“You gonna open that wound? Guess what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna dump salt right in it, and I’m gonna rub it in,” Robinson said. “You can get mad at me, you cannot like me, you can keep me out of your little club if you want to. I don’t care! I don’t want to be in your little club! I don’t need your approval. I don’t need for you to like me. When I come in the room – as a matter of fact, in some rooms, when I come in, I want you to cringe.”

The remarks will only fuel speculation of a potential primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, whose seat is up for election in 2026.

In the meantime, Robinson has made his opinions known on the politics of a new Republican U.S. Senate majority. He urged followers on social media to call Tillis and U.S. Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) to support U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) as the new Senate Majority Leader, after U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said he would step down.

“The people of North Carolina have spoken in tremendous fashion,” Robinson wrote. “We The People are ready for fresh leadership in the U.S. Senate.”

Of the three to run for the position, Scott was viewed most favorably by allies of President-elect Donald Trump. But in a caucus vote Wednesday, Scott was knocked off the ballot in the first round of voting; U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota) was elected majority leader.

Could Dan Bishop join White House?

U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop also lost his bid for a statewide office, defeated by U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson in the race for attorney general. But his time in the nation’s capital may not be done.

An attorney and the author of HB 2, the controversial North Carolina “bathroom bill,” Bishop could find a landing spot in the Department of Justice.

On Wednesday, Trump announced plans to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) to be the next U.S. attorney general, bringing “desperately needed reform” to the Justice Department. Earlier this month, it was Gaetz who urged North Carolina voters to support Bishop in his bid to become North Carolina’s attorney general.

Days after the election, responding to a video of Trump outlining his plans to shrink the federal bureaucracy, Bishop suggested he could be involved in some way with the administration.

“I so hate that I won’t be there for this,” Bishop wrote. “Oh wait.”

Bishop’s office did not respond to a request for comment.