RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Democrats celebrated big wins in the swing state after the November election, including victories in races for governor and other top statewide offices. But the political high point did not last long.
Republican lawmakers are stripping some core powers from newly elected officials in a series of sweeping changes, expecting the outcome of a yet-to-be-named state legislative race to cost them their veto-proof majority next year. Critics say the measures, implemented without any opportunity for public comment or analysis, undermine voters and are simply undemocratic, but leave them with few options to undo them.
“Let us be clear: this bill is nothing more than a desperate power grab,” said Courtney Patterson, vice president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
Among the changes, included in a bill that also addressed Hurricane Helene relief, is stripping the new governor of the authority to appoint members to run state elections and instead giving that responsibility to the state auditor – a job won by a Republican last. month. The measure also weakens the governor’s ability to fill vacancies on the state Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court. It prohibits the attorney general from taking legal positions inconsistent with those of the Legislature and weakens the powers of the state school superintendent and the lieutenant governor.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, who will succeed Cooper next month, have already filed a lawsuit against Republican lawmakers, saying many parts of Senate Bill 382 violate the state Constitution. The actions of Republicans in North Carolina are the latest example of how majority parties in some states have sought to undermine representative democracy in recent years, by using extreme gerrymandering to expand their grip on power or by seeking to remove officeholders of the opposing party or by ballot initiatives adopted in statewide elections.
“This is not how healthy democracies work,” said Steven Greene, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. “You don’t lose and decide you’re going to change the rules because you don’t like that you lost. It undermines the basic principles of democracy.”
Greene said he was disappointed but not surprised by the effort, which he describes as part of a familiar playbook. In 2016, hundreds of people protested and more than two dozen people were arrested after Republicans passed a bill during a special session that stripped the new Cooper administration of powers.
Republicans point out that Democrats acted to weaken executive branch positions after voters elected the state’s first GOP governor in the 20th century, in 1972, and the state’s only GOP lieutenant governor in 1988. century. North Carolina Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger blamed Democrats’ “blatant partisanship.” for necessitating the changes, which came just weeks after voters elected Democrats to the top statewide positions.
“The new measures in Senate Bill 382 balance our three branches of state government so that North Carolina remains on a positive trajectory, free from obstruction by the Democratic Party and liberal activists,” he said in a statement earlier this month.
While Democrats have won many top statewide offices over several election cycles, Republicans maintain a tight grip on the other two branches of government in North Carolina. Republicans control the Legislature and have at least a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court, where any dispute over the power-stripping legislation could ultimately end.
Since gaining control of the North Carolina Legislature in the 2010 elections, Republican lawmakers have repeatedly drawn voting districts in their favor, just as Democrats had done when they were in power. That has kept Republicans firmly in control of the legislature, while also leading to protracted court battles over redistricting.
The current legislative districts favor Republicans. The Republican Party won about nine more seats in the state House this year than would have been expected based on their average share of district votes, according to an Associated Press analysis using a mathematical formula designed to detect gerrymandering.
“North Carolina is really a purple state,” said Melissa Price Kromm, executive director of North Carolina for People Action. “…But our legislature is so gerrymandered that it allows for a Republican supermajority to enable these nefarious attacks on our democracy. It is ingrained in the system.”
Meanwhile, an extremely tight race for a seat on the state Supreme Court has led to a legal battle over the possible revocation of tens of thousands of ballots. With the incumbent Democratic justice holding on to a narrow lead, the Republican candidate’s challenge includes objecting to ballots from voters whose registration does not include a driver’s license or Social Security number. His lawyers claim that makes them incomplete.
“North Carolina voters see that the same people trying to overturn the results of the state Supreme Court race are the same people trying to change the way our elections are handled, the way powers and government functions are handled. ,” said Julia. Hawes, communications director at the statewide advocacy group Democracy North Carolina. “Many of us have been watching this power grab and attempts to overthrow the will of the people for more than a decade.”
Lawmakers in several other states have also attempted to overturn certain results of the November election. In Missouri, Republicans are taking the first steps to curtail voter-approved abortion protections by introducing a new constitutional amendment to restrict access to abortion. Massachusetts Democrats are exploring options to change the audit process after voters overwhelmingly approved giving the state auditor the power to monitor the Legislature.
During last week’s veto override at the North Carolina House, more than a hundred protesters chanted “Shame” and “People power” as they were escorted from the chamber’s gallery. Two days earlier, hundreds marched to the Legislative Building to deliver documents opposing the bill.
Rep. Cynthia Ball, a Democrat and member of the Election Law Committee, criticized Republicans for not making the bill public sooner, not offering a public comment period and putting such a significant shift in power into legislation that also included storm relief.
“Our democracy is increasingly threatened when things happen behind closed doors,” she said.
Della Hann, 64, traveled the 2.5 hours to Raleigh from her home in Southport to demonstrate when the Senate agreed to override Cooper’s veto of what she called “a terrible bill.”
The legislation, she said, is “not for the people of the state. It is up to the people sitting in that room to maintain their power.”
Kromm, of North Carolina for the People Action, said watching the crowds that gathered in protest offered hope and said her group would focus on educating voters so they can hold lawmakers accountable.
“The sheer number of people who showed up showed that the people of North Carolina care about what is happening in our legislature, and they are not going to give up without a fight,” she said. “They know that authoritarianism thrives on complacency and that we must stand firm. together and refuse to let this attack on democracy go unanswered.”
___
Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina, and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to improve its explanatory reporting on elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
