Oh, It's On

 

Michael Whatley Is In, Lara Trump Is Out

 

GOP Party Chair Michael Whatley has announced his candidacy for Thom Tillis's US Senate seat. That means, of course, that Lara Trump ain't running. In the not very distant past, Whatley had been chair of the NCGOP. When Trump forced Ronna McDaniel out as chair of the national Republican Party, he put Whatley in (along with Lara as co-chair). 

Whatley is the round-faced people-pleaser who's previously been most aligned with the country club Republican "establishment" and who, according to Brant Clifton at The Daily Haymaker, plays at being a Trumpist lickspittle while really secretly harboring fear bordering on resistance. "[Whatley] loves to talk about Donald Trump and post pictures of himself with Trump’s plane. But much of what he does and says aligns much more with Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger — the two former 'Republican' congressmen who colluded with Democrats on the farcical so-called 'January 6 committee'.”

In other words, Whatley is more in the mold of Thom Tillis, and MAGA doesn't entirely trust him. He's not going to ignite enthusiasm, which he's going to need in extra measure against Roy Cooper.

After taking over the NCGOP in 2019, Whatley oversaw Trump’s win here in 2020, two U.S. Senate victories in 2020 and 2022, recapturing a supermajority in the state Senate and flipping control of the N.C. Supreme Court from 6-1 Democrats to 5-2 Republicans. Despite that sparkling career in North Carolina (Wikipedia sez he's a native of Watauga County), and despite Whatley's signature affability, the most MAGA wing of the Party ran John Kane for party chair against him in 2023. John Kane was and is the number one son of an elder John Kane, a renown Raleigh mega-developer who was actually honored as Tar Heel of the Year in 2016. The elder Kane is also renown for raising big money for Republicans. The younger John Kane emphasized his MAGA bona fides, hitting especially "election integrity," because (check!) the election of 2020 was stolen from Trump. The conservatives who don't trust Whatley remember that he went weak after the "Stop the Steal" tourist romp at the Capitol, and condemned it all as a riot. Like a lot of other Republicans back on January 7th who later developed a twitch and then couldn't remember, Whatley never said another negative word in public about insurrection. Conservatives hate weakness, especially in their servants and allies.

Whatley easily won reelection to the NC chairmanship in 2023, with the endorsement of Trump, incidentally. "Mr. Trump likes Mr. Whatley for one overwhelming reason, according to people who have discussed him with the former president: He is a 'stop the steal guy,' as one of the people described him. He endorses Mr. Trump’s false claims about mass voter fraud and Mr. Trump believes he did a good job delivering North Carolina, a 2020 swing state, to him." [Zachary Roth]

Yeah, He's Running

 

WRAL, on it:

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is ramping up his political fundraising efforts, with a focus on national politics....

In a recent fundraising email to supporters, Cooper slammed congressional Republicans for passing a bill backed by President Donald Trump that would eliminate Medicaid coverage for more than 650,000 North Carolinians. The letter included a link that leads readers to a sign-up page, which then redirects readers to a donation page.

“You stood with me before as we fought to pass Medicaid expansion here in NC,” Cooper said in the July 17 email. “Now, we need to stand together again. Will you let me know you’re with me by adding your name to support health care access for every American?”

Cooper has kept open the political campaign apparatus that operated his runs for governor, even though he was term-limited in 2024 from seeking a third straight term. It was that campaign — Cooper for North Carolina — that sent the fundraising email.

Is Lara Trump House-Shopping in Wilmington?

 

Speculation is the oxygen of politics. So naturally I'm gonna breathe -- that is, read a list of potential Republican candidates for Thom Tillis's Senate seat. The NandO put Lara Trump in the first spot:

...the president’s daughter-in-law, a Fox News host, is “strongly considering jumping in the race,” NBC News reported. She is a native of Wilmington and formerly co-chaired the Republican National Committee. An unnamed source close to the Trump family told NBC News Sunday that if Lara Trump were to declare for Tillis’s seat, “The race will be over before it begins.”

My instinct is to agree with that. She would sweep the primary and could very possibly win the seat. Unless she turns out to run a bad campaign, a smug campaign, an inept campaign, or come across on the stump as all hat, no cattle. The whole Donald Jethro Trump extended family will descend on us, with lots of moolah.

Which Democrat could beat her? Roy Cooper? His silence over the last few months suggests disengagement, not the massive in-take of wind for bursting forth as a candidate for US Senate. Thomas Mills thinks he's out for 2026. Mills wants Jeff Jackson to step in.

Jeff Jackson could beat Lara Trump (though his strategists better start thinking out of the box!). I would hate like hell to lose Jackson as our Attorney General and would dread a Dan Bishop clone getting his hands on the reins of NC law (like that corrupted blond lawyer who took over the Department of Justice for Jethro). So losing Jackson carries both potential reward and consequential risk.

Wiley Nickel Jumps; Is There Water in the Pool?

 

Wiley Nickel applauding Roy Cooper
in earlier days

Back in January, ex-Congressman Wiley Nickel, who's been itching to run for the US Senate against Thom Tillis, told reporter Bryan Anderson that he wouldn't want to run in a primary against the much better known and frankly more politically formidable ex-Governor Roy Cooper. Don't know what's happened to change that, but yesterday Nickel announced his campaign for Senate, and Cooper is still "considering."

Cooper will be the instant frontrunner if and when he announces a campaign against Tillis. Maybe Nickel is trying to flush Cooper out, but will he graciously step aside when Cooper announces, or will he insist on going through defeat in a primary?

Politico reported:

“I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about former Governor Roy Cooper,” Nickel said. “My focus is Thom Tillis, who is voting over and over with Donald Trump on disastrous policies that are going to harm North Carolina.”

A person directly familiar with Cooper’s thinking granted anonymity to speak about private conversations said the governor is still “actively considering the decision to run” and he’ll decide after he completes his Harvard University fellowship later this spring. “Announcements by other potential candidates will not have an impact on his decision,” the person added.

 

Roy Cooper, Yasss!

 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) which makes her the "chief of recruitment" for new Senate candidates. has privately signaled that national Democrats are prepared to intervene in party primaries in numerous states, including North Carolina, next year. (Axios) At a fundraiser last Wednesday night, Gillibrand singled out former Gov. Roy Cooper, saying he would be a "formidable candidate."

Truer words can't be imagined.

Anderson Clayton Makes an Endorsement, Anita Earls Launches Reelection Bid, and Wiley Nickel Acts the Gentleman

 

A. NC Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton has endorsed Ben Wikler to head the DNC:

B. NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls has begun raising money for what is expected to be a fierce reelection fight in 2026. Her new website went live on January 9th.

C. Former NC Congressman Wiley Nickel, whose district was gerrymandered to guarantee a Republican would win, decided against running for his 13th CD seat (now occupied by Republican Brad Knott). Instead, he announced that he would run for Thom Tillis's U.S. Senate seat in 2026. On December 15, he filed a statement of candidacy with the FEC.

Ex-Governor Roy Cooper has pointedly told reporters that his own candidacy for Tillis's seat is definitely "on the table," though he hasn't announced anything concrete yet. But Wiley Nickel, knowing that the much better known Cooper would beat him in a primary, has told Bryan Anderson that he's "waiting in the wings and developing something of a contingency plan should Cooper decide not to run."

Wise move.

The Comedy Stylings of Berger/Moore

 

Berger and Moore ... said the governor has berated them for attacking the separation of powers doctrine when they are instead "seeking to preserve it."

--Haley Fowler, Law360

I was reading the details about the final legal briefs submitted to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the matter of Cooper v. Berger (case number 24-440, civil suit over constitutionality of Senate Bill 382), and what leaped out at me was the audacious hypocrisy of Phil Berger and Tim Moore (headnote above), and their platoon of legal whizzes, to brazenly assert the opposite of the truth. S 382 strips Democrats, most especially Gov. Josh Stein, of the very executive powers we recently voted he get. S 382 essentially rewrites the job descriptions after the jobs are filled.

It's also a naked attempt for "legislative defendants" to control both the creation and the execution of the laws. That's against the state constitution, a pure-dee power-grab to cement the MAGA tribe's control of all aspects of the government including the courts and all the money under heaven.

"By enacting ... S.B. 382, legislative defendants make a mockery of the guardrails put in place by the people, shifting core executive powers like Monopoly pieces to whichever Council of State member currently enjoys their favor," Cooper's brief said.... "This approach is fundamentally inconsistent with constitutional government and individual liberty."

"...separating the powers accorded our state government by the people is foundational to our republican form of government," Cooper's brief said. "It is a fundamental guiding principle, enacted by the people to prevent tyranny."

Tyrants get away with defying truth -- and violating both law and ethics -- only by the consent of the governed.

Stein and Cooper Sue To Block S 382

As expected, North Carolina Governor-elect Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit yesterday to block S 382, the new Republican devilment shifting executive power in government to Republican hands, particularly the administration of elections.

The new law’s changes “undermine the results of the election” and “violate the separation of powers,” Cooper and Stein argue. “It’s fundamental to our constitution that the legislature can not both make the laws and then choose the leaders who enforce them,” Cooper said. “Breaking the executive branch chain of command in law enforcement or any other executive branch agency is unconstitutional and it weakens our ability to respond to emergencies and keep the public safe.”

Let's Draft Roy Cooper for Senate in '26

 

"Everything is on the table right now."

--Gov. Roy Cooper, to WSOC, about whether he is considering a Senate run in 2026 against Sen. Thom Tillis

Smart money in North Carolina bets he runs. The smartest money bets he wins.

Meanwhile, Sen. Tillis has to worry that he might not make it through a primary, as the MAGA wing of the NCGOP can't tolerate him.

Big Question: Why Did Rep. Ray Pickett Vote for S 382?

 

Rep. Ray Pickett

While three other mountain Republicans from Western North Carolina sensibly voted against the so-called "Disaster Relief" bill, which provided zero relief but crippled the offices that Democrats won in the statewide election, Rep. Ray Pickett voted for it. Why? S 382 offers rather actual real neglect for hurricane victims.

How much money [was appropriated in S 382] for the NC victims of the Hurricane Helene?

Zero.

No rental assistance.

No small business support.

No direct assistance to families.

Instead, 117 pages of the 131 page “Disaster Relief 3” bill is far less about hurricane relief and far more of an overhaul to move executive branch power away from recently elected Democrats to Republicans....

Here’s what the bill really does:

The Governor would no longer have the ability to appoint people to the State Board of Elections or Utility Commission.

The Lt. Governor would no longer chair the energy crisis committee or the Energy Policy Council which would also be eliminated.

The Attorney General would lose the ability to intervene in lawsuits to protect consumers and prohibits the AG from taking a position not authorized by the Republican majority.

And lastly, the bill would prevent the State Superintendent of public instruction from appealing decisions by a state board that reviews charter school applications. (Tales of an Educated Debutante)

Gov. Roy Cooper angrily vetoed S 382 yesterday and attached this message:

“This legislation is a sham. It does not send money to Western North Carolina but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh. This legislation was titled disaster relief but instead violates the constitution by taking appointments away from the next Governor for the Board of Elections, Utilities Commission and Commander of the NC Highway Patrol, letting political parties choose appellate judges and interfering with the Attorney General’s ability to advocate for lower electric bills for consumers. Instead of giving small business grants to disaster counties it strikes a cruel blow by blocking the extension of better unemployment benefits for people who have lost jobs because of natural disasters. Finally, it plays politics by taking away two judges elected by the people and adding two judges appointed by the legislature, taking away authority from the Lieutenant Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction and more.”

So, in other words, Ray Pickett will have another chance to vote like his fellow mountain Republicans did the first time -- when the bill comes back to the House for veto-override.

Please tell Ray Pickett that we'll be watching his vote on S 382.

Ray Pickett's office: 919-733-7727

Ray Pickett's email: Ray.Pickett@ncleg.gov

The Continued Destruction of Public Education in NC. Why the GOP Super-Majority Must Be Broken in 2024

 

An important veto last Friday (Sept. 20th) by Governor Cooper of NCGOP legislation that allocates several hundred million more dollars to an expanded private school voucher program, money that can absolutely be handed out equally to the rich and privileged, who hardly need taxpayer money to afford school for their offspring. It's an astounding piece of legislation demonstrating the ethereal wishes of a group of people who have been dismantling public support for public education for years and who as a collective actually supports the ambitions of Michele Morrow, who would gut public education for the Lord, as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Of course, the Republicans in the GA can and will override Cooper's veto, because they have super-majorities in each chamber, but super-majorities of only one vote, so Democrats have their best chance in years to break that super-majority and earn the right to uphold the vetoes of our next Democratic governor. (You don't need to be reminded, of course, that the famous super-majority-making Tricia Cotham, who became turncoat, is currently in a death-match with Democrat Nicole Sidman for her House seat. Cotham''s district was obligingly gerrymandered to alleviate her vast unpopularity with both Democrats and independents, but was the gerrymandering sufficient to save her? Maybe not, in a blue wave.)

Last Friday Cooper also vetoed a strong-armed measure to force sheriffs to cooperate with Federal immigration enforcement officers and turn over any arrestees who might be undocumented to ICE's tender mercies. The Trump mentality of "make 'em feel the whip" quickly invaded some Federal agencies more than others.

This year has felt right for a political change of hue, a blue wave that could wipe out super-majorities, if not whole careers. The atmosphere has grown tremblingly pregnant ever since Joe stepped aside and Kamala took over the crusade, and for that selfless and no doubt incredibly painful self-sacrifice, President Biden deserves and no doubt in my mind will have the lasting kudos of history.

Cooper v. Berger Being Heard Today

The three-judge panel appointed by NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby to hear Governor Roy Cooper's "facial" constitutional challenge of S749 (e.g., "On the face of it, this law violates the constitution of North Carolina"). S749 was the sweeping bill which completely reorganized the administration of elections in North Carolina, ultimately enacted over Cooper's veto. Cooper is claiming the bill is a constitutional breach of the separation of powers and ultimately aims at nothing less than reducing drastically the access to early voting in some (many?) counties because 4-4 county boards of election are almost guaranteed to deadlock, and the existing law sez that when there's no majority on a 4-4 board, then all early voting in that county reverts to the local Board of Elections office and no place else (O my brethren!). The case was scheduled for a first hearing this morning in the Wake County Courthouse.

Carolina Journal reported the names and affiliations of the three judges that Newby picked: Superior Court Judges Edwin Wilson, Lori Hamilton, and Andrew Womble. Wilson is the lone Democrat, appointed by Roy Cooper. Hamilton and Womble are Republicans, and I suspect Newby knows their temperament (if not their temperature) and chose accordingly.

What are the odds for Cooper? Considering that the end-all and be-all of this case, no matter what the 3-judge panel decides, will be Paul Newby Hisownself and the current other four member of the Supreme Court clatch, I ain't holding my breath. The Republicans have bent themselves silly to constantly grab more power, and where they can't just outright bar certain people from voting, they'll make the very administration of voting -- especially early voting -- completely broken. It's American carnage all right.

UPDATE

You could have knocked me over with a dandelion head, but the 3-judge panel ruled unanimously that they sure nuf would like to have a trial over whether S749 violates Governor Cooper's constitutional rights (separation of powers), and in the blessed meantime, here's a temporary injunction on implementation of replacing all boards of elections in every county with boards made up of equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats (the newest Republican scheme to put a curse on voting). With the injunction, the current administration of elections in North Carolina stays the same, which tilts all boards one vote toward the Party of the Governor. Looks like the 3-2 Democratic majority on county boards will remain in place through next March's primary.

Gov. Cooper Attacks the NC Chamber of Commerce for Racial Bias

Gary Salamido

Last Friday, November 17, Gov. Roy Cooper wrote a letter to Gary Salamido, president and CEO of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce. Reporter Billy Corriher got his hands on a PDF of that letter and linked to it on Twitter. 

In the letter the Governor acknowledges the role the Chamber has in influencing both the General Assembly and the Governor's office about acceptable candidates for certain judicial and quasi-judicial jobs, like Business Court judges, industrial commissioners, and members of the Board of Review. 

The letter reveals more about the influence the Chamber has on the Republican bosses in the G.A. The bosses have already passed laws giving themselves the power of confirmation over the jobs listed above. It's simple dominoes. The bosses have power, but the Chamber has power over the bosses, because the Chamber represents money, and money wins elections.

The Governor details one example of the Chamber's veto, the case of the failed appointment of a Black woman to Business Court who's an ex-JAG officer in the Air Force and an Unaffiliated voter. "She is a partner at one of the largest law firms in the United States, where she represents corporate clients in product liability claims, complex civil litigation and environmental litigation." This is the sort of talent Cooper is saying the Chamber vetoes because she's Black.

It's kind of a bombshell letter.

Naturally, Mr. Salamido did not like the letter, mainly, he says, because Cooper released it to the media before he himself received it. Salamido called the letter “malevolent and libelous.”

The 3-Judge Panel in Cooper v. Berger (2023)

 

Gov. Roy Cooper sued (Cooper v. Berger, redux) October 10th, minutes after the Republican super-majority in the General Assembly successfully overrode his veto of a bill (S 512, a regular horror show of an omnibus) wherein Berger-Moore stripped the governor of power to appoint members of important boards and commissions (a bunch of them that guard public policy, including the N.C. Utilities Commission, which sets electricity rates, and the Board of Transportation, and the Environmental Management Commission, which sets pollution standards for businesses), and gave that power to themselves, to Berger-Moore personally (no kidding), thus creating a whole new level of political patronage and the wide-eyed expectation that corruption will surely follow. Cooper filed for an injunction to block implementation of Senate Bill 512 (and House Bill 488) "while their constitutionality is argued." 

A 3-judge panel

According to the new highly partisan court system Berger-Moore have set up, Chief Justice Paul Newby gets to pick the three-judge panel that will decide the constitutionality of the lege's taking so blatantly the administrative powers of the gov. The pool of superior court judges to hear such cases is now also appointed by Berger-Moore. It's wholesale power-grabbing. 

For hearing and ruling on this case, Newby chose Superior Court justices John Dunlow, Paul Holcombe, and Dawn Layton. They were scheduled to hear the case in Wake County this very day, starting at 10 a.m. 

John M. Dunlow (Republican), a superior court judge for Judicial District 9 in Granville County. His current term ends on December 31, 2026. He was a founding partner in Dunlow & Wilkinson, P.A., in Oxford, NC. He has a B.S. from AppState in poly sci and a J.D. from Campbell.

Paul A. Holcombe III (Republican), Resident Superior Court Judge for Johnston County in Smithfield, NC. Proud member of The Federalist Society. He got his J.D. at the University of Tennessee and worked as an assistant D.A. in Tennessee for some eight years before moving to North Carolina and taking the asst. D.A. route again, rising quickly to District Judge and then Superior Court Judge.

Dawn Layton (Democrat), superior court judge in Dist. 16A which includes Anson, Richmond, and Scotland counties. Appointed to the bench by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2019, she won in her own right in 2020 for an eight-year term. She's another one who learned her law in the assistant D.A. trenches, after getting her J.D. from Regent University School of Law in 2004.

 

The Wheel of Fortune

 

The following headline first appeared in the NandO on August 31st -- last Thursday -- but I didn't clap my eyes on it until yesterday: "How US allowed pandemic relief to go to NC companies involved in politics and lobbying." Whoa, Nelly! How did that get past me?

And it was well worth reading, too! Danielle Battaglia reports on a number of political consulting "shops" in North Carolina, both Republican and Democrat, that on-the-face-of-it violated longstanding Federal Small Business Admin rules to get their hands on sizable chunks of what turned out to be "free money" -- big loans under the COVID-inspired Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), loans that got forgiven:

When Congress authorized the PPP loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration to help companies harmed by shutdowns as COVID-19 spread, a longstanding Small Business Administration rule still applied that excluded those primarily engaged in lobbying or political activities from applying for agency loans. It was believed that federal tax money should not be invested into those activities. 

The rules allowed some firms in those industries to apply, but only if lobbying or political activity were not their “primary” lines of work. [Italics added]

A good part of Battaglia's long article includes quotes from various high-ranking political operatives arguing that their loans were perfectly legal and aboveboard because only 49.5% of their paid work is actual politics -- something like that. Something hilarious. But I'm less interested in that argument -- because the underlying SBA rule against political activity seems arbitrary -- than I am in the professional details of someone who looms large in my world.

The Democratic consultants exposed by Battaglia, primarily "the Governor's man" Morgan Jackson, have remained largely anonymous to the general public. They're the invisible hands of any government that's politically constituted. They guide policy and decide on personnel at all the levels that matter, from who gets to be on the State Board of Elections to how a statewide campaign for governor will be run.

Morgan Jackson is the Democrat's guy. So I want to know about him, and Danielle Battaglia scratched my itch. Everything below is 100% the reporting of Battaglia:

On April 27, 2020, Nexus Strategies received an $82,747 PPP loan, later forgiven with interest. Scott Falmlen and Morgan Jackson, partners at Nexus Strategies, that year worked with campaigns in North Carolina for Democratic candidates such as Joe Biden, Gov. Roy Cooper and failed U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham.

Jackson said most of their business is based in public affairs, not politics.

“I’m not sure how you differentiate from advising a sitting governor, and politics,” said Jane Pinsky, director of the North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform.

Hall added that Nexus does a lot of compliance work for Democratic campaigns.

In 2019, Nexus Strategies was registered with the North Carolina secretary of state’s office as doing “Political/Government Affairs Consulting.” After 2019, the company registered as “Political/Public Affairs Consulting.”

The firm received its PPP loan after listing the company under the category of “all other professional, scientific, and technical.” Nexus Strategies said in its application that it employed four people. Three of the four employee profiles on its website highlight their work in politics.

On the Nexus website, Falmlen’s profile states he is active in public service and advising elected officials and policy makers at the federal, state and local levels.

Jackson’s profile lists him as “a veteran of a number of high profile political and public policy efforts” and that he has served in senior roles for presidential, gubernatorial and congressional candidates. It also states that he advises government officials from the governor to legislative leaders and everyone in between. He stresses that he’s a longtime adviser to Cooper.

Jackson said his organization was within its rights to apply. “We qualified due to the fact that the majority of our business is derived from public affairs and communications and not from political consulting,” Jackson told McClatchy.

Jackson had told The Charlotte Observer for a story in May 2020 that the company would not be applying for the loan.

The Next Really Bad, Truly Awful Elections Bill in North Carolina

 

Senate Bill 749, "An Act To Revise the State Board of Elections," is another Republican power grab, denying the governor any -- as in no -- appointment power to the SBOE (and that's not even the worst part). Instead, this is who will get to appoint the new eight-member state board:

President of the Senate (Phil Berger) gets to appoint 2

Speaker of the House (Tim Moore) gets to appoint 2

Minority Leader of the Senate (Dan Blue) gets to appoint 2

Minority Leader of the House (Robert T. Reives II) gets to appoint 2

These same four people will also be burdened with appointing one member each to every single county BOE in the state come next June. So you get the plan? Four-to-4 on the SBOE; 2-to-2 on county BOEs. Everybody appointed by politicos. Can you spell deadlock? How about clusterfuck?

And what does S749 say about deadlocks? What are the remedies? In only two very specific types of deadlock -- the failure of boards to agree on their own chair -- Berger/Moore give themselves extraordinary power. If a local BOE can't agree on a chair, Berger-Moore gets to swoop in and take control:

If for any reason a chair is not elected within 30 days after new appointees take the prescribed oath or within 30 days of the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of the chair, the office of chair may be filled by legislative appointment in accordance with G.S. 120-121 as if the chair is a member of a board or commission. If the vacancy occurs in an odd-numbered year, the appointment is made upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. If the vacancy occurs in an even-numbered year, the appointment is made upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Same thing if the SBOE can't get majority agreement on a new Executive Director.

What about deadlocks over entire voting plans by county -- the setting of hours, the placement of early voting sites, the handling of challenges? Deadlocks over those highly contentious issues, since they involve something as crucial as ballot access itself, ought to happen, must happen, when one side has a plan that will disadvantage voters of color and young people. The greatest fear on the left is weak board members who just want to get along, so they go along, and through their shocking innocence allow the suppression of the right to vote.

The Republicans tout S749 as "no partisan control of voting." and doesn't it sound just so splendidly bi-partisan, with equal numbers from both parties singing Kum ba yah in the best of all possible worlds? If the Republican messaging machine is good at anything it's goodest at pulling the wool. They want deadlocks. They don't mind a little court action since they own the state's judiciary too. 

NOTE

S749 has passed the Senate and is moving in the House. It will pass. It will be vetoed. The veto will be overridden. The governor will sue.

FURTHER NOTE

The Republicans had this very same power-grab twice rejected in court and again by VOTERS, when they put a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in 2018 seeking the same outcome that S749 provides.

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.

The Cruelty of the NCGOP

 

Rojas and Betts, in NYTimes today:

North Carolina became the latest state to block minors from having access to gender-transition care, as Republican lawmakers voted on Wednesday to override the governor’s veto of a bill restricting hormone treatments, puberty blockers and surgeries for young people.

The move came as the State Legislature’s Republican supermajorities marshaled the votes to topple several other of Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes, reviving legislation that limits female transgender students’ participation in school sports and restricts what can be taught in schools about gender and sexual orientation.

North Carolina now joins about 20 other states that have enacted legislation blocking access to transition-related care for minors, with many of those laws passed this year as conservative lawmakers across the country have seized upon L.G.T.B.Q. issues....

[Transgender advocates] have contended that denying access to this kind of care can be dangerous and detrimental to transgender youths, who have high rates of anxiety, depression and suicide attempts, and whose mental health could improve with gender-affirming care, some research has shown.

“You can say that this is not anti-L.G.B.T.Q., but it is,” Senator Lisa Grafstein, a Democrat, told other lawmakers during the debate on Wednesday. “What we’re doing here will hurt people.” ...

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, has assailed Republicans for getting swept up in what he described as “political culture wars,” devoting their attention to targeting a small and marginalized group of young people instead of attending to more pressing issues confronting the state.

Special Shoutout to Tricia Cotham for joining and enabling this legislative menace.

Let Vetoes Blossom!

 

Governor Roy Cooper vetoed three hateful, unnecessary, intrusive, and obnoxious laws, which of course Berger/Moore will marshal their troops to override. All three target queer people because their small numbers in our population mean they're not strong enough to fight back, and the Republicans love weak victims.

H808, perhaps the most intrusive overreach of the session, puts the legislature between trans children, their parents, and medical experts. There's gathering pushback from families who support their kids, who know their kids better than Republican members of the General Assembly do, like this article currently in the News and Observer: "This 12-year-old wants to continue gender-affirming care. NC lawmakers are trying to stop it."

Add the story being told by a Democratic member of the House, John Autry, about his own granddaughter Savannah, recounted for Cardinal and Pine. The pain felt by the Autry family because of the insertion of state law into private family matters is powerful stuff. Gov. Cooper said in his veto message, "A doctor’s office is no place for politicians, and North Carolina should continue to let parents and medical professionals make decisions about the best way to offer gender care for their children."

Gov. Cooper also vetoed S49, a.k.a. the "Don't Say Gay" law, saying, “The rights of parents are well established in state law, so instead of burdening schools with their political culture wars, legislators should help them with better teacher pay and more investments in students.”

Finally, Cooper also vetoed H574, which Republicans called the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," and which sets out to ban trans athletes from participating in school sports. Gov. Cooper called the legislation's policies "broad, uninformed decisions about an extremely small number of vulnerable children that are already handled by a robust system that relies on parents, schools and sports organizations."

Proud of the governor for vetoing all three. Ashamed of the Republicans in the General Assembly for deciding that LGBTQ kids are the greatest threats to what's left of our civic pact.