House Speaker Tim Moore filed a constitutional amendment requiring photo identification to vote in North Carolina elections. The move was expected, though controversial. Conservatives cite polls showing most residents see voter ID as a needed security measure, while some liberals claim an ID requirement would disenfranchise elderly and minority voters. “This commonsense measure to secure...
North Carolina taxpayers will foot the bill for a $3 billion transportation bond and won’t have a say in being saddled with the debt if House Bill 1010 passes. Reps. Frank Iler, R-Brunswick; Michelle Presnell, R-Yancey; John Torbett, R-Gaston; and Phil Shepard, R-Onslow introduced the Build NC Bond Act on Monday, May 28. Many speculated...
Donald Trump is likely to win the Republican presidential nomination at or before the Cleveland nominating convention, and even though voters have soured on the candidates, the presidential race will drive turnout, a state Republican official says. “The mood is negative nationally. The mood is negative in the state,” Jim Burton, director of the state...
RALEIGH — Republicans held a 77-43 margin in the state House of Representatives in the 2013-14 session, and a 33-17 lead in the Senate. Democrats needed to win at least four seats in the Senate and five in the House to eliminate the Republicans’ supermajority status. It was the strongest showing for the governor’s party since 1972.
RALEIGH — Education is the campaign focus as the North Carolina House District 118 race heads toward the finish line. At least that’s the issue Democratic opponent Dean Hicks will concentrate on as he hopes to defeat incumbent Rep. Michele Presnell, a Republican. Both are former Yancey County commissioners.
RALEIGH — Twenty-eight House Republicans bolted party ranks Tuesday, joining 26 Democrats to defeat an economic incentives program that some labeled “corporate welfare.” It was a rebuke to House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and Gov. Pat McCrory, all of whom championed the legislation.
RALEIGH — Haywood County commissioners and area municipal officials are hoping a proposed 50-percent increase in the region’s occupancy tax will help them build capital projects and spur area tourism. But they face opposition from one of the region’s legislators, and that could scotch the tax hike.
RALEIGH — The power of incumbency, gerrymandered election districts, and a growing national distaste for politics in general might be the causes of having voter ballots for the May 6 primary election showing more blanks than the responses to a pop quiz. More than 50 state legislators effectively won seats in the 2015-16 General Assembly when filing ended at noon Friday.
RALEIGH — For the first time in a decade, state Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison, could face a tight race as North Carolina House District 118 voters decide whether he’ll get a sixth term. Republican Michele Presnell, a Yancey County commissioner and the wife of former state Sen. Keith Presnell, beat two other Republicans in the primary to challenge Rapp.
