Protecting Gov. Cooper's Veto in 2022

 

Blair Reeves and his team at Carolina Forward have released their "slate" of progressive Democrats for 2022  (formerly known in 2018 and 2020 as the Long Leaf Pine Slate). Carolina Forward will be fundraising for them and offering other election strategies and polling support. Check them out.

Carolina Forward's main consideration this year is protecting Governor Cooper's veto power:

The Carolina Forward Slate is a collection of bold progressive leaders running to take and defend seats the NC State House and Senate. We used some very simple criteria in choosing our endorsements:

*Under our new legislative maps, which candidates can win?

*How many seats do we need to protect Governor Cooper’s veto power?

*Which seats must we defend, and where can we expand the map?

Republicans have controlled North Carolina’s legislature for over a decade, and the election maps are still gerrymandered to favor them. What keeps the most radical right-wing elements of the legislature from running amok is one thing: Governor Cooper’s veto power.

Because Democrats have the votes to sustain Governor Cooper’s veto, they are able to force Republican leaders to negotiate in a bipartisan fashion to get significant legislation passed. Here is a brief list of recent Republican legislation that Governor Cooper’s veto power has successfully stopped:

*Defunding election cybersecurity

*A virtual ban on abortion access

*Overruling local control over school masking decisions

*Attempts to curtail and restrict voting access

*Abolishing permits and required training for handgun purchases

*Repealing all COVID precautionary measures