Bill Graham launches first TV ad with call for death penalty for drug dealers | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is David Bass.

    On Tuesday, Bill Graham, a Republican who entered the race for governor last week, released the first statewide television advertisement in the 2024 governor's race.

    Graham entered the primary race with $5 million of his own money and plans an initial spend of $3.5 million. Ads will be airing on a range of stations including local, sports, and cable news.

    In his initial 30-second ad, Graham says he went after violent criminals when he was a prosecutor, and as governor, he would "put them in jail, and in the ground." He said he would implement the death penalty for drug dealers and human traffickers.

    There hasn't been publicly released polling in the race since Graham announced. But in a recent Civitas poll that dropped prior to Graham's announcement, Robinson secured 49% support, with 41% still undecided in the race.

    Graham's opponents in the primary will include current frontrunner Robinson, state Treasurer Dale Folwell, former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, former state Sen. Andy Wells, and retired healthcare executive Jesse Thomas.

    On the Democrat side, Attorney General Josh Stein is facing off against former NC Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan.