Steve Ford has lived in North Carolina since 1981, when he moved here to join The News & Observer of Raleigh. He retired in late 2012 as the paper’s editorial page editor. In that job, he supervised the opinion pages, wrote editorials and wrote a weekly column.
Steve grew up in Northern Virginia. He graduated from Yale University and served in the U.S. Army as a photographer, including a year in Vietnam. He and his wife, Jeanne, who is an attorney, live in Cary and have three grown sons. He began volunteer work with the N.C. Council of Churches in the spring of 2013, helping to keep an eye on state government and writing about public policy issues.
In his spare time, Steve enjoys outdoor activities, taking road trips (back roads, especially) and playing the piano. He and Jeanne are members of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Cary.
Gerrymandering, voter suppression at center stage (10/16/2025) - The latest hot topic in the world of North Carolina politics is sadly, even maddeningly, familiar. Republican leaders of the General Assembly plan once again to redraw the state’s U.S. […]
Decade of Dangerous Vouchers (7/15/2025) - July 23, 2015, was a dark day for an enterprise central to North Carolina’s civic well-being: the education of the state’s schoolchildren. Sadly, the path down which the state Supreme […]
Risky turn for N.C. elections (5/30/2025) - Our democracy, with free and fair elections at the cornerstone, can be warped in favor of those who manipulate the election process to their advantage – who gets to vote, […]
High Court Race, High Stakes (4/11/2025) - Has the N.C. Supreme Court – deeply polarized in recent years under conservative Republican control – finally signaled that the prospect of throwing out thousands of votes in an election […]
90 Years Rooted in Faith: Gatherings for education, inspiration (2/24/2025) - As we celebrate 90 years of faithful work for justice and equity this year, we’re sharing stories of 90 Years Rooted in Faith that reflect the heart of the North […]
Tuition giveaway’s real costs (9/12/2024) - Amid the turbulence of a high-stakes election season stands a sadly familiar outpost of stability – the N.C. General Assembly’s relentless support of private schools at the expense of the […]
Masks, money mean a mess (6/13/2024) - There’s the civics-class version of how laws are enacted in North Carolina – rooted in the state constitution and rules of the General Assembly, and embodying ideals of orderly, even-handed […]
Extra money, N.C.’s critical needs (4/26/2024) - First, the good news. As North Carolina’s lawmakers crank up their every-other-year “short” session (well, sometimes it’s not so short), they’ll have the luxury of working with a healthy boost […]
Will election ‘machinery’ grind its gears? (3/15/2024) - As a classic example of trying to fix something that’s not broken, look no farther than the N.C. General Assembly’s overhaul last year of the State Board of Elections and […]
Schools face ‘sound basic’ showdown (2/1/2024) - In a political climate less driven by conservative ideology, even within our judicial system’s upper reaches, it might be reckless to forecast how the latest, epic clash over proper funding […]