N.C. reduces governor’s power
Elections changes OK’d; cabinet approval sought
— North Carolina Republicans stripped the incoming Democratic governor of some of his authority on Friday and were on the cusp of an even greater power grab, an extraordinary move that critics said flies in the face of voters.
Just last week, it appeared Republicans were ready to finally accept Democrats’ narrow win in a contentious governor’s race. As it turns out, they weren’t done fighting. In a surprise special session, some say the Republicandominated legislature has thrown the government into total disarray, approving at least one bill aimed at weakening incoming Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration.
Cooper, the attorney general, has threatened to sue. And many in the state are accusing Republicans of letting sour grapes over losing the governor’s mansion turn into a legislative coup.
“This was a pure power grab,” said retired school librarian Carolyn White, 62, a longtime demonstrator who was arrested as part of the “Moral Monday” protests against GOP-led legislative policies. “I got arrested two years ago. Did it make any difference? No. But just like the civil rights movement, it’s forward together. You just have to keep going forward.”
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who lost to Cooper by about 10,000 votes, quickly signed into law a bill that merges the State Board of Elections and State Ethics Commission into one board comprised equally of Democrats and Republicans, according to documents from General Assembly staff. The previous state elections board law would have allowed Cooper to put a majority of Democrats on the panel.
The law would also make elections for appellate court judgeships officially partisan again.
Another bill that received final legislative approval would force Cooper’s cabinet choices to be subject to Senate confirmation.
McCrory must decide whether to sign the second law.
Cooper said, “If I believe that laws passed by the legislature hurt working families and are unconstitutional, they will see me in court.”