Josh Stein

Joshua Harold Stein (born September 13, 1966) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 76th governor of North Carolina since January 1, 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor on November 5, 2024, defeating Republican nominee Mark Robinson by a margin of approximately 5 percentage points in a closely contested race in the battleground state. Stein previously served as North Carolina's attorney general from 2017 to 2025, succeeding Roy Cooper after winning election in 2016 and reelection in 2020. Born in Washington, D.C., to civil rights attorney Adam Stein and Jane Stoneman, he grew up in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina. Stein graduated from Dartmouth College and earned degrees from Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Early in his career, he taught English and economics in Zimbabwe, worked on affordable housing initiatives with Self-Help Credit Union, and supported small business investments through the North Carolina Minority Support Center before entering public service as senior deputy attorney general for consumer protection from 2001 to 2008. He later served in the North Carolina Senate from 2009 to 2017, focusing on issues like education funding and environmental protection. Stein is the first Jewish governor in North Carolina history, sworn in using a historic state Tanakh.

Joshua Harold Stein was born on September 13, 1966, in Washington, D.C., to Adam Stein and Jane Stein (née Stoneman), parents of Jewish descent.

Stein, who is Jewish, is a member of Temple Beth Or, a Reform synagogue in Raleigh, North Carolina.

He has engaged in Jewish communal activities, such as delivering talks at synagogues, lighting the public menorah during Hanukkah celebrations at Temple Beth Or, and participating in events hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Raleigh.