When Cotham mentions immigration, he does so primarily from the perspective of crime and public safety. As a Democrat, Cotham voted against a major Republican immigration enforcement bill in 2015. But he has since switched parties and, more recently, has supported legislation requiring county sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration agents and expanding the crimes that trigger immigration status checks. And while he was absent from the House vote on this year’s North Carolina Border Protection Act—which requires many state law enforcement agencies to enter into 287(g) agreements with ICE—he voted with every other House Republican to override the governor’s veto.

Cotham previously campaigned to expand Medicaid; he voted in favor of expanding the program in 2023, when he was still a Democrat. Since then, he has voted to fund the system, as well as to make some structural changes, such as adding work requirements.

Inflation and affordability are central to Cotham's campaign, and she highlights her role in passing tax cuts to help alleviate some of the burden rising prices place on North Carolinians. Most of her proposals to address affordability issues involve lower taxes. She supports the two constitutional amendments that will be on the November ballot: one to prevent legislators from raising the income tax above 3.5% in the future and another to require legislators to cap the growth of local property tax revenue.

Cotham did support allowing voters to decide whether to raise taxes in a separate measure: last year he introduced a bill that would allow Mecklenburg County residents to vote on a one-cent increase in the sales tax to fund transportation projects. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Josh Stein.

Cotham is a former teacher and assistant school principal who has campaigned for teacher pay raises and public school funding, as well as a major expansion of Opportunity Scholarships that channeled taxpayer money to private schools. She argues that the state doesn't have to choose and can fund both systems.

In 2023, Cotham publicly advocated expanding school vouchers to all families, regardless of income, and subsequently voted in favor of the state budget, which included a provision to do so. She was a leading sponsor of another bill to increase teachers' salaries in 2025, although this was later replaced by entirely different provisions, and she also supported a budget appropriations bill this year that increased teachers' salaries by approximately 8%.

When Cotham campaigned to return to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2022, she publicly advocated for a $15 minimum wage and paid family and medical leave. Four years later, seeking reelection as a Republican, she is not campaigning on any of those issues and is instead focusing on tax cuts and support for businesses.

Although bills have been introduced in the General Assembly to establish a heat protection standard for farmworkers and to prohibit local marshals from assisting ICE in operations at farms or construction sites, none have reached the floor of the House of Representatives, so Cotham has not voted on those measures. He did, however, co-sponsor and vote for a bill to increase several workers' compensation benefits, and he also voted "yes" to a bill aimed at making the process for workers to file discrimination claims against their employers fairer and more transparent.

Cotham does not explicitly address technology regulation or AI use as part of her campaign. She voted in favor of a bill establishing protections for minors on social media, demonstrating her willingness to regulate tech platforms when there are concerns about child safety. The Senate later added AI provisions to the bill, but the House of Representatives—including Cotham—voted against those changes, and the bill remains stalled.

Although Cotham's current campaign does not prominently feature a housing platform, she has included affordable housing among her priorities in the past. In the state House of Representatives, she has supported bills to extend low-income housing tax credits, limit property tax growth, and amend tax breaks for affordable housing.

McCool has not taken a public stance on immigration control and there is no record of his position on the issue during his time in local office.

McCool has not taken a public stance on health care or Medicaid expansion, and there is no record of his position on the issue during his time in local office.

Affordability is the central theme of McCool's campaign. “Prices are constantly rising while sales taxes are increasing, but wages are staying the same,” he said in a questionnaire for candidates. For him, part of the problem is that, until July 2026, the state went 1,000 days without a budget due to a political deadlock between legislators and the governor. McCool says this forced counties to step in to pay for services like schools and law enforcement, and that they were compelled to raise property taxes to raise funds.

As a Matthews city commissioner, McCool voted for a city budget that maintained the existing property tax rate and granted salary increases to city employees. He also supported issuing bonds for transportation and park projects in both 2022 and 2025, even though these would eventually require a small property tax increase.

McCool argues that the state has underfunded public schools while expanding “unregulated vouchers for private schools,” and that children living in rural communities or attending public schools are receiving less than they deserve. This, he says, shifts the burden onto counties and their taxpayers. McCool has also advocated for salary increases for teachers, though he has not specified the amount.

McCool has said he doesn't believe wage growth has kept pace with household costs, though he has yet to release a detailed policy proposal to address the issue. He has highlighted his role as Matthews commissioner in bringing an advanced manufacturing campus to the city, along with “numerous well-paying jobs.”

McCool's campaigns and published statements do not include any stance on technology or AI regulation. He has demonstrated a willingness and comfort with technology and social media—even going viral on TikTok in 2021 as part of an effort to reach young voters—and has embraced technology-driven economic development.

McCool highlights his record of “fighting for affordable housing” as a city commissioner and lists it among his top campaign priorities. When he ran for commissioner in 2019, he said he believed the city needed to work with developers to create more affordable housing in Matthews; later, he supported the city’s efforts to secure $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to build affordable housing. He also championed greater zoning flexibility in several cases to create more affordable units, including those by the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity, and promoted housing developments for middle-income workers as well as low-income residents.