Lassiter Lashes the Wind

 

Scott Lassiter and Mrs. Lassiter,
back then

Grateful to Bryan Anderson and his "Anderson Alerts" on Substack for being in the room to hear Republican candidate Scott Lassiter's BOE challenge to the residency of current Dems Senator Lisa Grafstein, who got gerrymandered into a Wake County double-bunking with another Democrat and chose to move her residence within the legal time frame to run in a different district that had no declared Democratic candidate.

To run against Scott Lassiter, as it turns out (or potentially, since he has his own primary to get through). 

Who is Scott Lassiter? Glad you asked.

Last heard from while suing House Speaker Tim Moore for alienation of affection (and eventually at least extracting some money or penance from Moore, for they settled out of court), Lassiter seems not to mind the public reminder of his cuckolding. Moore had pretty conclusively canoodled with Lassiter's wife, and got her some benefits in pay on the side. Lassiter testified that Moore had offered to bribe him to forget the whole thing at a Biscuitville in Raleigh (where there are three Biscuitvilles, so I'm guessing the Western Blvd. location).

At the Wake County BOE hearing, Grafstein produced bundles of evidence that she had moved her residence to the newly drawn NCS13, and had done so within the time required. Bryan Anderson, reporting from the hearing room: 

Scott Lassiter ... conceded that Grafstein appeared qualified to be on the ballot.

“I am impressed by the senator's records,” Lassiter said. “I'm impressed by the speed at which she was able to move.”

Lassiter told reporters after the hearing that he doesn’t plan to appeal the decision to the State Board of Elections.

“I do believe that the State Board would likely make the same decision,” Lassiter said. “Unless I have additional facts that come forward, I don’t anticipate appealing.”

So, if Grafstein's residency is legit, why did he bring the complaint? Simple answer, if you like watermelons squeezed through the birth canal of blueberries: Lassiter wants Grafstein thrown out of her current office representing NCS13, because she's now moved her residence outside the previous iteration of District 13 and is therefore some sort of imposter in the Senate.

The Wake BOE ruled Grafstein's residency legit and said the question of whether or not she is still a senator is not within their purview.

Scott Lassiter has to survive a primary against Vicki Harry, about whom I know nothing. Wonder how she'll try to defeat him.

Sen. Lisa Grafstein Willing To Move Residence

 

Democrat Lisa Grafstein was just elected to the NC Senate seat from northern Wake in 2022, but the Republicans targeted her with the new NC Senate maps by double-bunking her with another powerful Democrat, Jay Chaudhuri. It would be harmful to both senators to run against each other. So is Lisa Grafstein just out?

The news comes that she's willing to move residence and run further south in Wake.

She's not just a fighter. She's a litigator. This is what we found out about Lisa Grafstein when I wrote about her in October 2022 before she won her seat:

Grafstein is a Raleigh disabilities and civil rights litigator, currently on staff of the non-profit advocacy org Disability Rights North Carolina. She's listed on Super Lawyers as a top rated litigator. She's endorsed by both Lillian's List of North Carolina and by the national PAC Emily's List.

She's a first-time candidate but has a long involvement in politics, mainly running the election campaigns for Democratic judges Linda Stephens, Robin Hudson, and Suzanne Reynolds.

Grafstein won her primary last May against Patrick Buffkin with almost 67% of the vote.

Grafstein thinks she's now being silenced -- little does Ralph Hise know! -- because she's been outspoken for LBGTQ+ rights in that Raleigh room full of unreconstructed old men. She's thinking of moving to another Senate open district with no incumbent. She's no stranger to moving her residence. She says she's lived in many different houses in Wake County in her 33 years there, so another move -- while a pain in the ass, especially so because it's the result of political spite -- would be doable.

The Election Denyer Running for NC Senate in Wake County

 

I haven't written about NC Senate District 13 because it looks like a solid Democratic district right in the middle of Wake County. Conservative NCFree rates it D + 6. Dave's Redistricting scores it 62% Democratic. Usually Republicans run their craziest candidates in districts they have no chance of winning. It's a pattern that is playing out again in SD13.

The November ballot in SD13 offers Lisa Grafstein (D) v. David Bankert (R) for an open seat. (SD13 was formerly the property of Republican Danny Britt, but redistricting put him now in SD24, where he's running currently.)

Does butter melt in that mouth?

Last night while I was eating up raw meat at a Fall Democratic Rally, the Raleigh NandO published a candidate profile of David Bankert -- actually, not reportage written up by a reporter but a short-and-sweet candidate questionnaire, in which Bankert declares himself undecided on legal marijuana and undecided on Medicaid expansion and very much opposed to abortion, and by the way, "No" to "Do you accept the results of the 2020 Presidential Election?" No further discussion. Just "No!"

Oh, come on out and say it, Mr. Bankert. You're willing to declare the Republic we've built through sweat and blood invalid because your guy didn't win.

Then I go to his website, and it's instant cognitive dissonance, because the 1st thing you encounter is this large print declaration (ALL CAPS in red) -- "Our Society Is Too Divided" -- followed by these soulful words of devotion to the Republic: "I’m offering a fresh voice and determination to bring average citizen values back to our legislative process. It’s time for We the People to get more involved.”

I see something flawed in Mr. Bankert's logic. Unless, of course, he's talking about the "legislative process" now being promoted by Trumpists in front of the Supreme Court (Moore v. Harper), arguing that state legislatures cannot be challenged by state courts in matters of gerrymandering and voter suppression. There's every chance that the Amy Coney Barrett court will agree with any wild-ass theory the Federalist Society dreams up.

Maybe that's what he's (secretly) planning on, joining BergerMoore in Raleigh to force on us worse gerrymandering and creative ways to suppress the black and brown vote, particularly voter photo IDs, followed by a clamp-down on the youth vote -- that is, once the Samuel Alito court gives them the green light.

Bankert is a retired electrical engineer with a degree from Carnegie Mellon and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He goes easy on the right-wing stuff on his website, which makes sense because he's running in a probably unwinnable district, but the NandO questionnaire may have flushed him out.

I've found no Twitter account for him and the "David Bankert for NC Senate" Facebook page had one post back in April before the primary, and nothing since. It's like he's trying to stay unnoticed.

Lisa Grafstein (D)

Grafstein is a Raleigh disabilities and civil rights litigator, currently on staff of the non-profit advocacy org Disability Rights North Carolina. She's listed on Super Lawyers as a top rated litigator. She's endorsed by both Lillian's List of North Carolina and by the national PAC Emily's List.

She's a first-time candidate but has a long involvement in politics, mainly running the election campaigns for Democratic judges Linda Stephens, Robin Hudson, and Suzanne Reynolds.

Grafstein won her primary last May against Patrick Buffkin with almost 67% of the vote.

Yes, she is a powerful candidate who ought to win this race even on a rainy day.

Michael Munger (L)

There's one other candidate on this ballot, the somewhat famous Libertarian Michael Munger, a Duke professor of economics and political science who ran for governor in 2008 and for an NCHouse seat in 2020. Like most Libertarians (like more than most perhaps), I can agree with some of his policy positions since he's more socially liberal than some Democrats.

He might draw up to 4% of the general election vote.