RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s current governor and his successor filed another lawsuit Monday challenging a key provision in a Republican law that erodes the powers of several new Democratic state leaders — the latest in a long-running power struggle between the North Carolina’s executive branch and legislature over who controls elections in the state.
The lawsuit challenges one of the key power shifts in the law that shifts the ability to appoint members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections from the governor’s authority to the state auditor’s office — which will be led next year by Republican Dave Boliek. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and newly elected Gov. Josh Stein, who currently serves as attorney general, filed the lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court on Monday, saying in the complaint that the provision is unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers .
The change in state election board appointments will happen next spring if it is not blocked by the court. Administration of state elections would likely remain under Republican Party control for years to come and trickle down to county boards as well.
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“We have had the same structure for our State Board of Elections for nearly a century and it has served North Carolina well, with fair and secure elections in our state every cycle,” Cooper said in a news release Monday. “These blatantly partisan efforts to give control of the election boards to a newly elected Republican will create distrust in our electoral process and serve no legitimate purpose.”
Cooper and Stein’s lawsuit is the second challenge the couple has filed against the Republican Party-controlled state legislature regarding the law. Cooper and Stein are also challenging another provision that prevents the governor from choosing his commander of the State Highway Patrol.
These changes to the governor’s powers were part of a larger set of changes to several statewide offices that Democrats won in November and will preside over next year — such as the attorney general, the state schools superintendent and the lieutenant governor.
If the law survives the court’s challenges, it would further underscore Republican-led legislative power over the other two branches of government since Republicans took control of the General Assembly more than a decade ago. Last year, Republican supermajorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate further strengthened power.
Pending legal challenges in a pair of open races, Republicans could lose their supermajority if Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn’s bid to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Frank Sossamon proves successful. That would give Stein a slightly more effective veto stamp on future Republican legislation if Democratic lawmakers remain united.
Republican lawmakers passed the bill in both chambers earlier this month — not without scathing condemnation from the crowd of protesters inside the building.
The bill drew the ire of Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as some community organizers, who labeled it a “power grab.” They also criticized Republican lawmakers for tying the power shifts to disaster relief funding in western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Most of the $252 million in recovery funds included in the law cannot be spent until the next General Assembly takes action.
But Republican lawmakers defended the bill, with new House Speaker Destin Hall saying during the House vote that the changes are within the legislature’s constitutional right. Republicans also point to previous Democratic actions, such as weakening the state’s first Republican governor in 1972, as reasons that made the legislation necessary.
Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore — both defendants named in the lawsuit — did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening. A state elections spokesperson also did not immediately respond.
Changes in the administration of state elections are not a first for Republican lawmakers. Previous attempts have been blocked by the courts, including a lawsuit last year that would have moved appointment power from the governor’s administration to the General Assembly. Attorneys for Berger and Moore moved to dismiss the case last week, and Cooper and Stein’s new lawsuit seeks to replace it.
