RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democrats in North Carolina celebrated substantial victories in the swing state after November’s elections, including victories in races for governor and other top offices across the state. But the political climax did not last long.
Republican lawmakers are stripping newly elected officials of some key powers through a series of sweeping changes and expect the outcome of a yet-to-be-determined state race to cost them their veto-proof majority next year. Critics say the moves, pushed through without any chance for public comment or analysis, undermine voters and are simply undemocratic, but there is little chance of undoing them.
“Let’s be clear: This bill is nothing more than a desperate power grab,” said Courtney Patterson, vice president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.
Among the changes included in a bill that also addressed Hurricane Helene relief is to strip the recent governor of the power to appoint members to the state election board and instead give that responsibility to the state auditor – an office that a Republican won last month. The measure also weakens the governor’s ability to fill vacancies on the state Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court. It prohibits the attorney general from taking legal positions that conflict with those of the legislature and weakens the powers of the superintendent and lieutenant governor.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, who will succeed Cooper next month, have already filed a lawsuit against Republican lawmakers, saying many parts of Senate Bill 382 violate the state constitution. The Republican actions in North Carolina are the latest example of how majority parties in some states have sought to undermine representative democracy in recent years by using extreme gerrymandering to expand their power or undermine opposing party officials or ballot initiatives in statewide elections adopted.
“That’s not how healthy democracies work,” said Steven Greene, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. “You don’t lose and decide to change the rules because you don’t like that you lost. It undermines the basic principles of democracy.”
Greene said he was disappointed but not surprised by the effort, which he described as part of a familiar playbook. In 2016, hundreds of people protested and more than two dozen were arrested after Republicans passed a law during a special session that stripped powers from Cooper’s recent administration.
Republicans point out that Democrats took steps to weaken executive branch positions after voters elected the state’s first GOP governor of the 20th century in 1972 and the century’s only GOP lieutenant governor in 1988. North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger blamed Democrats’ “blatant partisanship.” for the need for the changes, which came just weeks after voters elected Democrats to the statewide top job.
“The new measures in Senate Bill 382 effectively balance our three branches of state government, keeping North Carolina on a positive path, free from obstruction by Democratic Party and liberal activists,” he said in a statement earlier this month.
While Democrats have won many top offices across the country in multiple election cycles, Republicans maintain a tight grip on the other two branches of government in North Carolina. Republicans have control of the Legislature and have at least a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court, where any dispute over power-stripping legislation could ultimately end up.
Since Republican lawmakers won control of the North Carolina Legislature in the 2010 elections, they have repeatedly drawn districts in their favor, just as Democrats did when they were in charge. This has helped Republicans maintain a tight grip on power in the House while also triggering protracted court battles over redistricting.
The current legislative districts are favorable to Republicans. The GOP won about nine more seats in the state House of Representatives this year than would have been expected based on its average share of the district vote, according to an Associated Press analysis using a mathematical formula to detect gerrymandering.
“North Carolina is basically a purple state,” said Melissa Price Kromm, North Carolina executive director for People Action. “…But our legislature has been rigged to enable a Republican supermajority that enables these shameful attacks on our democracy. It’s embedded in the system.”
Meanwhile, an extremely close race for a seat on the state Supreme Court has sparked a legal battle over the possible removal of tens of thousands of ballots. With the incumbent Democratic justice clinging to a narrow lead, the Republican candidate’s challenge is to object to ballots from voters whose registration does not include a driver’s license or Social Security number. His lawyers argue that this makes them incomplete.
“North Carolina voters are seeing that the same people trying to overturn the results of the state Supreme Court race are the same people trying to change the way our elections are handled, the way and ways in which powers and government functions are handled,” said Julia Hawes, communications director for the statewide advocacy group Democracy North Carolina. “Many of us have been watching these power grabs and attempts to overthrow the will of the people for over a decade.”
Lawmakers in several other states have also tried to overturn some results of the November election. In Missouri, Republicans are taking the first steps to restrict voter-approved abortion protections by introducing a recent constitutional amendment to restrict access to abortions. Democrats in Massachusetts are exploring options to change the audit process after voters overwhelmingly voted to give the state auditor the power to oversee the Legislature.
During last week’s veto override at the North Carolina House, over 100 protesters chanted “shame” and “people power” as they were escorted from the House gallery. Two days earlier, hundreds marched to the Legislative Building to deliver documents opposing the bill.
Rep. Cynthia Ball, a Democrat and member of the Election Law Committee, criticized Republicans for not releasing the bill sooner, not providing a public comment period and including such a significant power shift in the legislation, which also included storm aid.
“Our democracy is increasingly threatened when things happen behind closed doors,” she said.
Della Hann, 64, traveled two and a half hours from her home in Southport to Raleigh to demonstrate as the Senate agreed to override Cooper’s veto of what she called a “terrible bill.”
The legislation, she said, is “not for the people of the state.” It’s up to the people sitting in this room to retain their power.”
Kromm, who works for People Action of North Carolina, said watching crowds gathering for protests gives hope and said her group will focus on educating voters so they can hold lawmakers accountable.
“The sheer number of people who showed up showed that the people of North Carolina care about what’s happening in our legislature and are not going to give up without a fight,” she said. “They know that authoritarianism is based on complacency and that we must stand. We want to stick together and not let this attack on democracy go unanswered.”
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Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina, and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
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