We Live in Interesting Times

 

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan posted this yesterday morning:

Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan, who just stepped down from the court last week, has entered the Democratic primary for governor in 2024. 

His candidacy upends a primary that thus far had just one candidate, Attorney General Josh Stein — long considered the heir apparent to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. 

But Morgan says he has a better chance of winning the general election.

Full disclosure: I've given money to the Josh Stein campaign. 

Democratic Primary in 2024 for A.G. Might Get Interesting

 

Alexander H. Jones has written a strong endorsement for the just retired NC Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan to run for the office of Attorney General, not Governor as has been speculated Morgan was considering. Jones makes the point that the first announced Democratic candidate for the job is a little known ex-Marine lawyer from Fayetteville, Col. Tim Dunn. There's now a second Democrat in the race, Duplin County attorney Charles Ingram. Morgan's getting into the primary will make him the instant frontrunner.

Jones writes, "Mike Morgan would be one of the most highly-qualified candidates ever to run for Attorney General in North Carolina. He has served as a jurist at every level of the state courts, culminating in a tenure on the High Court during one of the most significant progressive terms in recent state history."

Whoever wins a Democratic primary will likely be running against current Congressman Dan Bishop, whom Jones also characterizes: "Bishop represents the most pernicious strand of politics that exists in America. While it would be very strong to employ the descriptor 'fascist,' Dan Bishop has allied himself with genuine forces of neo-fascism in national politics. He started his AG’s campaign by stoking lurid fears about crime in 'Asheville' (decoded: gay) and 'especially Charlotte' (decoded: multiracial). At a minimum he would create a climate of hysteria among many whites that seemed to justify an extreme response by law enforcement to an imagined epidemic of urban disorder."

A Resignation at the NC Supreme Court

 

Democratic NC Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan has announced that he will be resigning from his seat the first week of September, which will allow Governor Roy Cooper to appoint a Democratic replacement to serve out the rest of Morgan's term and be better positioned to run for reelection in 2024.

"Morgan, a North Carolina native who spent most of his childhood in New Bern, has served for more than three decades in the state’s judicial branch. He was an administrative law judge, a Wake County District Court judge and a Superior Court judge before joining the state Supreme Court in 2016." (NandO)

Morgan has suggested that he may be interested in running for governor in 2024, which would force a primary with Attorney General Josh Stein, who is the only Democratic announced candidate at the moment.

Dallas Woodhouse Needs a Nap

The Charlotte City Council suddenly repealed their anti-discrimination ordinance on Monday (under pressure, apparently, from Governor-Elect Roy Cooper). They did it to seal a deal with the General Assembly that it would also repeal HB2. But last night the deal seemed to unravel a bit.

Why? Although the city council repealed the major parts of its February ordinance – including all the clauses related to bathrooms and locker rooms that were the main source of Republican opposition -- the council apparently missed some minor "linked" provisions.

So last night at 1 a.m., Dallas Woodhouse, Executive Director of the NCGOP, who likes to take a drink once in a while, tweeted this: “The HB2 blood is now stain soaked on their hands and theirs alone. What a dishonest, disgraceful shame by Roy Cooper and Charlotte Democrats.”


No one ever accused Woodhouse of sober thoughtfulness.

The Charlotte City Council met again early this morning to fix the oversight:

Charlotte City Attorney Bob Hagemann said there had been some misunderstanding about council’s actions on Monday, but denied that there was any attempt to confuse or mislead state lawmakers.

“You [city council] did repeal all of the public accommodation ordinance” Monday, he said. “No attempt was made to hide anything or deceive anybody...I was certain the council acted in good faith.”

“I don’t know that we’re smart enough to actually do that,” he said of tricking the legislature. “But we’re not dumb enough to try.”

So this morning as the General Assembly convened, presumably to perform their half of the "repeal deal," various Republican members of the House began denouncing the whole (5th) special session of the General Assembly as unconstitutional (like that has ever slowed them down!), announcing they would never vote for repeal. The three loudest grandstanders were Larry Pittman (Cabarrus), Jeff Collins (Franklin, Nash), and Michael Speciale (Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico).

With only 105 of 120 members of the House showing up this morning, if there are many defections among the Republicans, it will take all the Democrats and at least 15 sane Republicans to repeal HB2.

Back to Woodhouse: He's a Liar

The last special session of the General Assembly -- gosh! was it just last week? -- was characterized by a preemptive, warning outcry among Democrats that the Republicans were planning to pack the NC Supreme Court to nullify the election of Democratic Judge Michael Morgan. You remember everyone's case of nerves about that, don't you? What the GA did was bad enough, but they didn't pack the court.

Dallas Woodhouse issued a blistering, blood-on-their-hands type statement attacking the news media for reporting the rumor: “I am embarrassed by how the press fell hook, line and sinker for a court expansion crisis that was speculated by Democrats, rumored by Democrats, and fed by Democrats.” Blah, blah, blah. The Woodhouse denunciation went on and on.

But ... really? Woodhouse embarrassed? And we thought he was un-embarrassable!

But who comes out Monday and exposes Woodhouse as a liar? None other than lame-duck Pat McCrory who issued a statement in which he confirmed that indeed the General Assembly was planning to pack the court and that he, heroic Pat McCrory, had stopped them:

“During the past week as the legislature called themselves back into session, I was actively working as your governor to protect the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government .... I also successfully worked to deter any efforts to expand the composition of our Supreme Court."

D'oh! Governor Squishy, you become useful once in a great while!

Red more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article122156609.html#storylink=cpy