The Wray of All Flesh

 

Rodney Pierce and Michael Wray

Conservative Democrat Michael H. Wray had a good 20 years legislating in Raleigh before he was taken out in the March primary by Rodney Pierce (profiled here back in February). After the recount, Wray lost his seat by a mere 34 votes. Pierce will be going to Raleigh next January because there is no Republican candidate. It's a safe Democratic House district, and Wray often had no Republican challenger in his reelections though he often had Democratic primary challengers. Rodney Pierce finally had the juice to beat him.

He was unpopular among Democrats for being so popular with the Republican majority in the House. He was said to vote with the Republicans over 80% of the time, most notoriously for Dan Bishop's hated "Bathroom Bill" and more recently for the last Republican budget, choosing to override Gov. Cooper's veto.

He was and is a nice man, people say, at a time that Democrats needed a little more steel in tribal spines. Wray was sweet enough to Republicans that Speaker Tim Moore elevated him to a senior chairmanship on the powerful House Finance Committee way back at the start of the current session in January 2023. Moore was trying to woo Wray to change parties. Moore also wooed Tricia Cotham, who obligingly tumbled in April 2023.

No one said it was illegal to turn your coat. But there are consequences, especially among those who made the coat and expected you to wear it with the right side out.

Four NCHouse Democrats Challenged in 2024 Primaries

 

Ren Larsen writing for The Assembly ("The Democrats' Shrinking Tent") reminded me of some interesting Democratic primaries about to be decided on March 5th. Early Voting begins a week from Thursday. Four moderate NCHouse Democrats, who've voted for Republican laws maybe more than some voters in their district think healthy, are challenged by rival Democrats who criticize them for being too compliant with the Republican super-majority.

James Adams

HD 60 (Guilford) -- incumbent Cecil Brockman v. James Adams

Larsen reports that Brockman votes with Republicans 75% of the time. The average is actually 66%, which indicates the number of non-controversial bills that get voted on and passed by a bi-partisan majority. Brockman notoriously voted to override the governor's veto of the Republican budget, which shafted the Leandro plan to improve K-12 public schools, and he's been a consistent supporter of more and more money to charters (ergo less money for public schools). An investigation by Bryan Anderson found that Brockman's absences from the work of the House seemed high: "He was absent on 21 voting days, or 44% of voting sessions."

James Adams is the former head of the High Point NAACP. He's been endorsed by Carolina Forward and by Nicole Quick, a former candidate for House, and he's running with the slogan "James Adams Will Always Show Up."

HD 60 is majority white (40.4%) but has a competitive Black population (37.5%), with some 10% Hispanic. It leans Democratic by 63.2%. Both the incumbent and the challenger are Black. 

 

HD 27 (Halifax, Northampton, Warren) -- incumbent Michael Wray v. Rodney Pierce

Rodney Pierce

This particular primary pits a 10-term white rep. against an aggressive Black challenger. Michael Wray has voted to override more Roy Cooper vetoes than any other Democrat in the House.

Pierce is another Carolina Forward endorsee and an award-winning public school teacher and a historian. Described by Greg Childress: "Outspoken social studies teacher and historian Rodney Pierce has successfully submitted five applications to the state for historical markers commemorating Black historical figures, events and organizations. Pierce has opposed efforts by the state’s Republican-led General Assembly and others to restrict what he and his colleagues teach students about the nation’s history of racism." He's endorsed by labor (small as it is in this right-to-work state).

HD 27 is a majority minority district with some 51.9% Black voters to 41.4% white and 2.4% Hispanic. It leans Democratic heavily 61.7%. 

HD 23 (Bertie, Edgecombe, Martin) -- incumbent Shelley Willingham v. Abbie Lane

Willingham was groomed by Republican Speaker Tim Moore, who notably gifted Willingham with a committee chairmanship as a reward for his voting Republican a dismaying number of times.

Abbie Lane

Abbie Lane (what a perfect name! aka "Bud") ran before in 2020 under the Green Party label and supplied other details about himself to Ballotpedia:

Abbie Lane was born in Washington, North Carolina. He graduated from North Edgecombe High School in 2002. He earned an associate degree in marketing from Pitt Community College and a certification in leadership from Edgecombe Community College. He worked in entertainment and sports management for a decade [professional wrestling]. He changed careers and spent time working with multiple Fortune 500 companies to implement procedures to enhance customer service experiences as well as remote workspaces.

In 2021, Lane became a Fall Fellow with the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership and in 2022 was added to the E.A. Morris Fellowship for Emerging Leaders. He has also completed training and certifications with Young Americans For Liberty, Win At The Door, MoveOn Progressive Power Summit, the National Democratic Training Committee, and the Victory Institute. In the Spring of 2023, Lane returned to the Democratic Party after spending more than 20 years registered as unaffiliated/independent. As of September 2023, Lane served as the 1st Vice Chair of the Edgecombe County Democratic Party and as a State Executive Committee member of the North Carolina Democratic Party representing Edgecombe.

The training and networking outlined in that 2nd paragraph might be enough to help this white candidate overcome a very seasoned Black incumbent.

HD 23 is another majority minority House district, with 53.4% Black population to 41.7% white and 3.6% Hispanic. It leans Democratic by 59.4%. 

HD 106 (Mecklenburg) -- Carla Cunningham v. Vermanno Bowman

Carla Cunningham was first elected in 2012. She's another pretty consistent vote for Republican laws on the most sensitive subjects. Her district is so safe, she wasn't even opposed in 2020, and she's never won with less than 70% of the vote.

Vermanno Bowman ran a primary against Democratic incumbent Kelly Alexander Jr. in HD 107 in 2022 and got 16.5% of the vote. He looks like a pure sacrificial offering, meant to send a message.

HD 106 is 33% white, 47.2% Black, and 11% Hispanic. Both candidates in this primary are Black. Whoever wins the primary is pretty guaranteed election because the district leans Democratic by 73.4%.

By Being Absent, These Democrats Helped Override a Cooper Veto

 

Two Days Ago (March 28, 2023): Just a day after the school shooting in Nashville, every NC Senate Republican voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto abolishing our state background check system for buying handguns, and since the Rs have a veto-proof majority in that chamber, it was a successful override vote.

Yesterday (March 29, 2023): Three Democratic members of the NC House abandoned the governor by just not showing up in the House. The Republicans only needed one Democratic absence. They got three.

Here's one result of that:

It's interesting that Wray, Brockman, and Cotham -- all three -- had been honored by House Speaker Tim Moore with plum committee roles. 

After the vote Brockman defended himself, claiming he was in an urgent care office, and Cotham issued a printed statement saying she was receiving hospital treatment for "long COVID," and adding that she would not have voted to override, had she been present. Wray had no comment.

Carolina Forward, which produced the graphic above, was not swayed by Cotham's excuse:

We are distressed and deeply sympathetic for the personal health issues @triciacotham is going through. If she is unable to perform her duties as an elected official, she should resign in favor of an appointee who can more effectively represent Mecklenburg.

Everything Happens for a Reason: NC House Committee Appointments

 

The Associated Press broke the story of Tim Moore's appointments for NC House committee leadership posts in the 2022 long session of the General Assembly. The Associated Press published certain highlights; but the full committee roster for standing and special committees is here. among which is this not very surprising appointment of a Democrat as vice chair of the Commerce Committee -- Rep. Garland Pierce (profiled here a few days ago as a possible Democratic weak link for overturning the veto of an abortion bill). He got a plum committee leadership post, and was only one of several Democrats who got that kind of recognition, some of them at least also suspected of being potential allies for Tim Moore in his quest to overturn every Cooper veto. 

US News made the same point in their coverage of Moore's committee appointments: duh. Awarding gavels to more than one member of the opposing party is an obvious, time-tested means of asserting influence, though we don't know fer shure that any of the additional appointments outlined below will get Moore the one Democratic vote he needs to rout the governor on a variety of veto overrides.

Willingham

Democratic Rep. Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe County is now one of three chairmen leading the alcoholic beverage control committee. Watauga County's Ray Pickett is a member. Willingham won his seat in the House 2016; Republicans didn't run a candidate against him in 2016; and he's gotten 58-60% of the vote in his other reelections. Represents a safe district.

WRAL reported: 

Willingham told WRAL News Tuesday that he wasn't asked to commit to anything in exchange for the chairmanship, and he noted that he has more than 20 years experience with the state's alcoholic beverages regulations, including two terms as a vice-chair of this committee.

"Speaker didn’t ask me to make any commitment to do anything and I haven’t committed to anything," Willingham said.

"[My vote] depends on what the bill is," he said. "I’m going to support any bill that will support my district and also the state. … Doesn’t matter who puts that bill forward.”

Democratic Rep. Michael Wray of Northampton County was elevated to one of four senior chairmen of the powerful House Finance Committee.

Wray

Sara Pequeno:

Wray is another 10-term state representative who represents Halifax, Northampton and Warren Counties. He had an excused absence the day of the first vote on the 2019 bill [Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act], and he voted to uphold Cooper’s veto when it went to the House floor. On the other hand, he voted for the Human Life Nondiscrimination Act [2021], which would have banned abortions based on gender, sex and disability. He has voted with the Democrats on other abortion bills aside from the 2021 legislation.

Democratic Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County will be one of three chairs of the K-12 education committee, joining two Republicans. Cotham served in the House for nearly 10 years through 2016 before returning as a candidate last year, and she's an established authority on state education policy. Cotham is never mentioned as a potential vote for a veto override.