MONROE, N.C. (CN) — Former U.S. Representative Dan Bishop quietly dismissed his defamation case against now-state Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s campaign Friday.
Bishop, known as the author of North Carolina’s bathroom bill, sued Jackson’s campaign and various Democratic entities in October 2024. He accused them of defamation, civil conspiracy and engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices, claiming they framed him as representing clients who stole from the elderly in order to thwart his campaign for state attorney general.
Jackson, who had previously served in Congress before his district was redrawn, ran against Bishop for North Carolina attorney general in 2024, and won 51.4% to Bishop’s 48.5%. He has amassed widespread support on TikTok for his informational videos about the going-ons of Congress.
In legal filings, attorneys for the campaign argued Bishop failed to prove the defendants acted with actual malice, which is necessary to prove defamation against a public figure. A motion to dismiss hearing had been set for Jan. 21, but Bishop’s voluntarily dismissal ends the case — though he can refile within a year if he wants to.
The crux of the suit stemmed from a call made by market research firm Dynata, which was conducting political surveys. It called a Union County voter and asked them: “Would you be more or less likely to vote for Dan Bishop for attorney general if you knew that, as a lawyer, he represented people who stole money from the elderly?”
This question was presented as a fact, Bishop claimed, spurred by a report by The New Republic this past June that Bishop had worked with organizations accused of questionable business practices in the past.
The details of the cases that the online magazine reported on demonstrated familiarity with legal filings, Bishop said, and Dynata lacked incentive to conduct a political survey unless hired to do so. Bishop claimed the defendants must have solicited The New Republic to publish the story to undermine his campaign for attorney general.
“They acted in conscious disregard of the truth as evidenced by cherry picking and distorting and mischaracterizing individual cases, and subordinating accuracy and truth to the objective of competitive advantage in the campaign,” Bishop said in the suit.
Dynata, which was also a defendant, saw a default judgment issued Friday after failing to make an appearance.
Jackson’s campaign argued that Bishop didn’t show it gave the law practice question to Dynata. Bishop also won’t be able to prove the publication’s allegations are false without violating attorney-client privilege, the campaign argued, or provide any damages related to the question. This was supported by filings by other Democratic defendants.
The question at hand, the campaign said, is not a statement of fact, and therefore can’t be defamatory.
“Plaintiffs’ complaint is a political stunt dressed up as a lawsuit. Ill advised lawsuits like plaintiffs’ are all too common for political candidates in North Carolina. They rarely end well for the plaintiff,” it said in a motion requesting that all claims be dismissed with prejudice.
Lawsuits against political candidates are not uncommon in North Carolina. Current Governor Josh Stein, who was attorney general prior to Jackson, was sued for defamation during his campaign in 2020 after he ran an ad claiming that his opponent let rape kits go untested. Stein ultimately prevailed.
Former Governor Roy Cooper also had a libel lawsuit filed against him in 2000, after he took out an ad in a close attorney general race claiming his opponent Dan Boyce charged $28,000 an hour to represent taxpayers. A settlement was finally reached in the case 14 years later.
Representatives for Jeff Jackson’s campaign and other Democratic defendants did not reply to requests for comment.