Dan Bishop, 60, a lawyer, has been a U.S. House of Representatives member since 2019. He was a member of the state House of Representatives, state Senate, Mecklenburg County board of commissioners. He lives in Charlotte.
The job
The attorney general represents state government agencies, departments and commissions in legal matters, provides legal opinions to the General Assembly, governor and other public officials upon request, can initiate a court proceeding on behalf of the state and handles criminal appeals for the state.
The state attorney general’s office does not have authority over local district attorneys, law enforcement officers or courts.
Our Q&A with Bishop
NC Health News reached out to Dan Bishop by phone and his campaign email multiple times seeking responses to the questions below but received no response. To provide information to readers, we have included votes he has taken in different elected offices, comments issued by his Congressional office and responses he gave during a forum with Jeff Jackson sponsored by the North Carolina Bar Association in June.
Are there steps an AG can take to battle the fentanyl crisis? What would you do?
“You will not resolve the problem of fentanyl in North Carolina by a money laundering statute,” Bishop said in response to one question during the bar association forum. “That’s not the problem. The problem in North Carolina, if you ask a law enforcement officer or a DA is North Carolina, is an unsecured border where the fentanyl pours over the border. And the way to fix that is not tinkering with this statute or that statute in North Carolina. It is to secure the border.”
In response to a direct question about fentanyl during the debate at that North Carolina Bar Association annual meeting, Bishop added:
“I’ve already spoken to the main cause of this, which some want to shut their eyes to, but it is a wide open border and a flow of drugs across that border and precursor sent from China into Mexico, drugs made there and come in in great volumes,” Bishop said. “.In lots of occasions, young people are dying not because they’re addicted to drugs. …they may be taking a Xanax or something like that, and the pill is laced with fentanyl, tThose things are occurring increasingly. Fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of death for those 18 to 24. That’s got to stop. But you say I’m opposed to sheriffs cooperating with Immigrations and Custom Enforcement and at the same time say you’re going to reduce fentanyl.”
Would you defend the state’s current abortion laws in the courts? Why or why not?
Bishop released a statement on June 24, 2022, applauding the Supreme Court’s “conservative justices” for the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and left it to the states to decide abortion laws. “Every human life is sacred, including the unborn. Thankfully, today’s Supreme Court decision underscores that,” Bishop said. “This decision is a foundational victory for our nation, allowing us to more perfectly carry out the promises of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.”
He has received an A+ score from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
In 2022, Bishop voted against the Right to Contraception Act and co-sponsored a 15-week federal abortion ban. Neither was enacted.
In 2023, he co-sponsored No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2023, a bill to prohibit the use of federal funds for abortions of for health coverage that includes abortion.
He co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, which was introduced in January 2023.
As a potential attorney general, where do you stand on the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes?
“I’m going into an office in which as attorney general, this is another opportunity to reinforce this point, I am not a policy maker,” Bishop said at the bar association June forum. “I do not have a strong position on the legalization of marijuana. I believe, as we would look at the results that have [been] obtained in states like Colorado, it appears to me to be unwise. I do not believe people should be incarcerated or need they be, or have their lives ruined by minor drug offenses so that’s about as far as it goes with me. I won’t be setting that policy in North Carolina. It is a live debate, I’ll respect the determination that is reached in the General Assembly, and I’ll see to it that we act in coordination with law enforcement — a very difficult job to have. …I’m content to be the law enforcer and not the person who’s making the policy in this role.”
You were in the state legislature when HB2 was adopted. Why did you vote how you did on the bill? How has that law, and North Carolina’s experience with it, shaped your current thoughts on the issues that arose?
Bishop was a cosponsor of HB2 and voted for it.
What stance would you take as an attorney general on whether to defend laws that have generated controversy in the state — such as those that focus on transgender youth and the care providers can administer, their potential involvement in female sports teams and conversations they have with school teachers? Please elaborate on your reasons.
Bishop did not respond to this question. This is a comment he made during the bar association forum that provides a partial answer.
“The role in the criminal justice system that the attorney general’s office, other than informally and from bully pulpit and coordination supplies, is criminal appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court,” Bishop said. “The attorney general’s office dedicates 80 percent of its time to civil litigation.”
What actions as attorney general would you take if companies released chemicals such as PFAS into state waterways?
Bishop’s congressional office issued this comment on his vote against the PFAs Action Act of 2019.
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has robust tools under existing laws to identify, regulate and abate risks from substances that pose danger to human and environmental health,” he said. The bill, he said, “began with reasonable adjustments to these laws to ensure focus on two specific chemical compounds of concern, PFOS and PFOA, but became a Frankenstein monster, taking a meat cleaver to the regulatory process. It threatens to overwhelm the EPA by presumptively banning an entire class of over 7800 chemicals, known as PFAS, without any developed scientific evidence of toxicity at normal exposures. PFAS chemicals are used in making coronary implants and other biotech devices, cell phones, tablets, solar panels, lighter aircraft, non-stick cookware, anti-stain fabric protectors — a host of useful and even critical products.”
More North Carolina youth are using nicotine pouches in middle school and high school. The current attorney general sued e-cigarette manufacturer Juul in 2019 to try to slow vaping minors. North Carolina reached a 2021 settlement restricting Juul’s marketing to teens in this state. Is this a strategy you might employ? Please explain your rationale.
In March 2020, Bishop’s congressional office sent out a press release noting that he had spoke out against the Protecting American Lungs and Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2020.
The bill, he said, “will hurt farmers in North Carolina, disrespect the free choice of Americans, especially African Americans, and do nothing to advance public health.”
“The uncertainty this bill will create serves no legitimate purpose and will hurt 1300 hard pressed, hardworking farmers all across North Carolina,” Bishop said on the House floor. “Why are Democrats so dismissive of the interest of farmers and the challenges they face? And consider this, nearly 30% of adult tobacco users report flavored tobacco use, almost nine and 10 adult African American smokers choose menthol. This bill would ban them all. How can you not only dismiss, but discriminate against, their adult choices? Do you really expect that no black market will emerge to cater to those choices? Have you considered the harms that will result from that? Kids shouldn’t use tobacco, nor in my opinion should adults, but more bureaucracy trampling arbitrarily on adult free choice and destroying family farmers are nowhere close to the solution.”
The current attorney general joined a bipartisan group of AGs from across the country to launch an investigation into TikTok to determine whether the company engaged in deceptive conduct that has harmed the mental health of its users, especially children and teens. Where do you stand on such an action? What would you do as AG to limit potential social media harms to children?
“In the United States Congress, this year, they passed a law to ban TikTok. Jeff [Jackson, the Democratic candidate], having deciduously cultivated a following there and used it for his political purposes, voted to ban it,” Bishop said at the bar association forum. “I’ve never used TikTok, but I value the First Amendment rights of Americans to speak. The United States Supreme Court spoke to this in 1965. This may surprise you but look it up. Lamont vs. Postmaster General. “Americans have a First Amendment right of access to foreign propaganda. So if this TikTok is operated by the Chinese government or …has influence over the owners of it, the answer is don’t use it. But I do respect the fact that 170 million Americans have made a different choice, including Jeff Jackson, and he went and voted to ban it after having used it for his advantage. That is the polar opposite of commitment to fundamental rights or making your decisions predicated on the law.”
State demographers predict that there will be more people in North Carolina 65 and older in 2031 than people younger than 18. Older residents often are the target of scammers. If you were attorney general, what steps would you take to limit such actions?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.
Similarly with Medicaid fraud, the AG’s office has recouped hundreds of millions of dollars from health care providers who have defrauded the government. How would you protect the state against such activity?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.