If the state budget process seems polarized now, just wait. It could get even more quarrelsome as lawmakers contemplate how their votes might affect 2020 political prospects. Call it the Three P’s — preening, posturing, and preparing for election campaigns — and some of that was on display during House committee and floor debate on...
The nearly two-year battle over the Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement may come to a close soon with the General Assembly essentially handing Gov. Roy Cooper a victory in the separation-of-powers struggle. Lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday, Dec. 12, to return the elections and ethics boards to two separate agencies with the governor having...
Lawmakers are galloping back to Raleigh just one month after the N.C. General Assembly closed the 2018 short session — this time to scrutinize a ballot language that may dramatically affect November elections. On Monday, July 23, House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, announced an extra session of the legislature,...
Civitas Institute, a conservative public policy organization, released poll results showing the N.C. Supreme Court race election is neck and neck. Although filing for the judicial election hasn’t opened, Republican incumbent Barbara Jackson and Democratic challenger Anita Earls have made it clear they’re running for the state Supreme Court seat. Filing begins June 18, and...
Republican legislative leaders’ decision to hold secretive budget deliberations was bad politics, and could further motivate angry Democrats to flood the voting booth this fall, political observers say. GOP leaders counter that the budget they unveiled Monday night (links here) merely makes some minor adjustments in the two-year agreement enacted last year. In their view,...
Gov. Roy Cooper took three strikes in Wake County Superior Court this week as judges ruled in favor of the General Assembly in a continuing battle over separation of powers. Political analysts say the rulings, while an immediate defeat for Cooper, aren’t the end of the story. The setbacks involved legal fights between Cooper and...
Court intervention in congressional redistricting has some lawmakers wondering whether judges are gaveling their way into legislative territory. On Jan. 9, a panel of three federal judges blocked North Carolina from using its current map during congressional elections. The map, GOP redistricting leaders admitted, was designed to give Republicans an advantage in 10 out of...
The Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting on Wednesday rolled out a skeleton proposal for a constitutional amendment to switch from electing judges to a multistep appointment process. But political observers are skeptical the public would surrender the right to elect judges and pass a required referendum if an amendment went to...
Republicans want to protect their supermajority in the General Assembly. No surprise there. What does have political analysts talking is how openly GOP leaders have stated that as a goal as they draw new, court-ordered legislative maps. Earlier this year, a federal three-judge panel ordered lawmakers to scrap 28 districts that were racially gerrymandered. The...
I read an interesting story the other day. Colorado anesthesiologist Tim Farnum wants his state to prohibit retailers from selling smartphones for use by anyone younger than 13. After noticing his children became “moody” and “withdrawn” when on the devices, Farnum created a group called Parents Against Underage Smartphones to push for reform. He requires...
Gov. Roy Cooper is on a pace that could rival former Gov. Bev Perdue’s record number of gubernatorial vetoes. But almost half of Perdue’s vetoes survived, while Cooper has yet to sustain a single one. Political analysts say wins and losses aren’t the real prize, and Cooper is likely to continue issuing vetoes. The end...
