Legislature
Ballot bites: Politicos make final decisions ahead of NC candidate filing
Just days ahead of the opening candidate filing period, politicians are making their intentions known and trying to demonstrate political strength by touting endorsements and cash on hand. If you missed it on Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger endorsed Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the 2024 Republican gubernatorial primary. Berger said Robinson has […]
Black voters removed from a state Senate district where their choices could determine the winner
Sonya Bennetone-Patrick told her cousin she almost fainted when she saw the plan for the New Hanover state Senate district. Predominantly Black precincts in Wilmington were cut away from New Hanover and attached to a Senate district dominated by Brunswick and Columbus counties. “I’m still sick over it,” Bennetone-Patrick said in an interview. “I’m just […]
As NC Democrats denounce new GOP-drawn election districts, one congresswoman called them “explicit political pornography”
Democrats are considering a lawsuit against GOP redistricting plans that U.S. Rep. Alma Adams called “explicit political pornography.” North Carolina’s Democratic members of Congress and legislative leaders said the GOP-drawn plans for new election districts go to extremes to stack election odds in Republicans’ favor. They denounced new election maps in a video news conference […]
Redistricting recap: Voting has ended on NC election districts favoring the GOP
Legislators took final votes Wednesday on new election districts for Congress, the state House, and the state Senate that greatly advantage Republican candidates. The congressional plan creates 10 solid Republican districts, three strong Democratic districts, and one district that is trending Republican. First-term Democratic US Rep. Don Davis lives in that district. The existing court-ordered […]
Do new NC election district maps treat Black voters fairly? (And, what is “Gingles”?)
Redistricting debates are some of the most jargony going, with frequent talk of “VTDs,” “county groupings,” and references to various court cases. One of the terms mentioned several times a day at the North Carolina General Assembly is “Gingles.” Gingles is shorthand for a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a North Carolina redistricting lawsuit. […]
NC legislature begins voting on plans for new election districts that will expand GOP majorities
The state Senate approved new congressional district boundaries and gave a preliminary nod to a new plan for state Senate districts despite Democrats’ warnings that they would be overturned by courts. A little later Tuesday, the House approved a district plan for its chamber. All three maps lock in Republican majorities. The congressional map […]
New NC election districts that lock in Republican advantages on their way to approval
The state legislature is moving toward approving a new plan for congressional districts that will likely have North Carolina elect 10 or 11 Republicans to the U.S. House in 2024, up from seven Republicans elected last year. North Carolina’s congressional delegation of seven Republicans and seven Democrats was elected last year using a court-ordered plan […]
Monday numbers: Lawmakers try to punish LGBTQ allies
A record number of anti-LGBTQ bills were filed and passed in states across the country this year. From criminalizing public drag shows and standard health care for transgender people to banning books and dictating school curricula, they collectively have the effect of marginalizing LGBTQ people and driving even their mention from the public square. As […]
Parents of children with disabilities want NC legislators to learn about their “hidden world”
Gwen Collman estimates that her 31-year-old son has had 150 paid caregivers since he was two years old, and that she has recruited about 100 of them. David, one in a set of triplets and one of Collman’s four children, is deaf, has cerebral palsy, and cognitive impairments. People who work with him are paid […]
NC legislators about to put an exclamation mark on one of the worst sessions in state history
The 2023 session of the North Carolina General Assembly could be rightfully categorized as one of the worst in modern state history based merely upon what lawmakers failed (or chose not) to accomplish. Topping any list of such failures would be the destructive and blatantly lawless decision to ignore the state constitution and a state […]
