Court Politics

Since 2010 Republicans have worked mightily to engineer a Republican Supreme Court in North Carolina. Now they’re shocked, shocked, that a Democratic governor appointed a Democratic Chief Justice. Elections have consequences, as they say.  A longtime court-watcher (a Democrat) told me that while Paul Newby has been on the Supreme Court longer than Cheri Beasley,…

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Cooper Wins Veto. Again

Governor Cooper has won the veto twice now. This year, he broke the Republican supermajority. More than 20 years ago, he helped pass the veto in the first place. Former Governor Jim Hunt reminded me of how that happened. Before 1995, North Carolina was the only one of the 50 states where the governor didn’t…

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The Eight-Year Itch

Politics is volatile and unpredictable, but one iron law prevails: The pendulum always swings back the other way. The last big swing was 2010. That was the first mid-term after the stunning election of a new kind of President whose first two years in office drove his opponents bonkers – and to the polls. 2018…

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Cooper’s (familiar) challenge

Roy Cooper has seen this movie before. This time, he plays the lead. Thirty years ago, Cooper was a freshman House member. The Governor was a Republican. Democrats controlled the General Assembly. There were only 50 Republicans among the 170 House and Senate members. And the Governor didn’t have veto power. When Governor Jim Martin…

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Alas, Poor Pat

As his hopes and his days dwindle down to a precious few, you almost feel sorry for Pat McCrory. Almost. It has to be hard being the first North Carolina Governor to lose a reelection race. He couldn’t do what Jim Hunt, Jim Martin, Jim Hunt again and Mike Easley did. Bev Perdue was a…

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