State Sen. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, survived an eligibility challenge that could have knocked him out of his re-election race a few days before the May 8 primary. But his credibility took some blows. The Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement voted 7-1 Thursday, May 3, to uphold a three-member local election board decision...
The long, hard slog for the North Carolina Green Party is over. The state officially recognized the Green Party, allowing its candidates to appear on state ballots. “It’s something we’ve been working for, it seems like, forever,” said J.J. Rizzo, co-chairman of the Triangle Chapter of the Green Party. The nine-member Bipartisan State Board of...
Gov. Roy Cooper chose Damon Circosta, executive director of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation — which provides grants for charitable causes and is a major funder of the left-leaning N.C. Justice Center — as the ninth and final member of the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement. The board, which met for the first time...
John Lewis, a Republican recently named to the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, says the eight-member board — set to hold its first meeting at 8 a.m. Wednesday — should have more time before recommending its ninth member. And he’d like to give the public time to participate in that decision. House...
Editor’s note: See update below. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, says an ethics complaint filed against him by a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization is tainted by election-season politics. Campaign for Accountability filed the complaint Monday, March 5. It alleges Moore might have improperly used the power of his office to skirt state Department of...
Correction: This story was updated Feb. 23 to correct the spelling of Special Deputy Attorney General Matthew Tulchin. They are four words among many in the state constitution. But their meaning could invalidate all laws passed in a 2016 special session of the General Assembly if a three-judge Superior Court panel decides they enshrine fundamental...
Gov. Roy Cooper insisted $57.8 million from energy companies building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was a voluntary contribution, but said at a news conference he doesn’t know whose idea it was originally to seek the money he planned to distribute. During a 20-minute meeting with reporters Wednesday, Feb. 14, Cooper accused the General Assembly of...
The Civitas Institute has filed a state ethics complaint against Gov. Roy Cooper, seeking a ruling and possible investigation into questions of his handling of $57.8 million from a utility coalition building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. “Not only is there a question that these funds could be considered an illegal gift under the State Government...
The House passed House Bill 90 on Tuesday, Feb. 13, commandeering a controversial $58 million discretionary fund Gov. Roy Cooper created with developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and redirecting the money to education. Republicans praised the legislation because it incorporates several key education provisions the House has backed with strong bipartisan support. Democrats complained...
Senate Republicans suggested the state could approach a constitutional crisis if it enables a governor to control money outside the normal budgetary process. Some suggested Democrats’ loyalty to Gov. Roy Cooper surpassed their commitment to public education, if not the constitution itself. Senators spent more than 90 minutes Friday, Feb. 9, debating House Bill 90...
Lee Lilley did little to assuage Republicans’ concerns over a $57.8 million “voluntary” payment to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office from companies building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Lawmakers doggedly questioned Lilley, who Cooper hired as his director of legislative affairs less than a week ago, during the meeting a joint appropriations committee of the General Assembly...
