Ticket-splitting, veto override votes mark 2024 politics in NC

Voters supported putting Republican Donald Trump back in the White House, while delivering an overwhelming win for Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein over embattled Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the governor’s race.

North Carolinians also rejected Trump’s MAGA acolytes for lieutenant governor, attorney general and state superintendent of Public Instruction.

Speaking of Robinson, his GOP primary win over state Treasurer and Winston-Salem native Dale Folwell was the runner-up story.

Third on the list was the national speculation that Gov. Roy Cooper could become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate before removing his name from consideration.

Fourth was the Republican supermajorities’ successful override votes of 10 Cooper vetoes during the 2024 session, as well as the potential ending of the House supermajority in the 2025 session.

Rounding out the top-five is the so-called “power grab” attempt by Republican legislative leaders of certain authorities of the Democratic-elect governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state superintendent of Public Instructions.

Center-right or center-left?

Both Trump and a Democratic governor candidate won North Carolina for the third consecutive general election.

Trump carried North Carolina by a 50.95% to 47.56% margin over Harris. Trump received 2.87 million votes.

Meanwhile, Stein defeated Robinson by 3.03 million to 2.22 million votes, or 54.8% to 40.1%. Stein not only was the largest vote-getter in the statewide races, but received 160,496 more votes than Trump.

There were minimal, if any, Trump coattails for the other Republican MAGA acolytes running for lieutenant governor (Hal Weatherman), attorney general (U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop) and superintendent of Public Instruction (Michele Morrow).

They were defeated by Lt. Gov.-elect Rachel Hunt, Attorney General-elect Jeff Jackson and superintendent-elect Maurice “Mo” Green, the former Guilford County Schools superintendent.

Bishop and Morrow both drew about 180,000 fewer votes than Trump, while Weatherman was about 230,000 votes shy of Trump.

What is different about the 2024 statewide races is that “voters generally cast party-line votes and aligned their Council of State votes with their presidential preference,” said John Dinan, a Wake Forest University political science professor who is considered a national expert on state legislatures.

“But in cases where one party’s candidate was able to portray the other party’s candidate as outside the mainstream, especially in open-seat races, this led some voters to engage in ticket-splitting.”

Chaos over stability

Folwell built his governor’s campaign in March 2023 on the pillars of being the top statewide race vote-getter in 2016 and 2020, and that he offered stability, experience and maturity as “the best governor that money can’t buy.”

Folwell did not hold back his questioning of Robinson’s qualifications to be governor given Robinson’s statements about racism, gender identity and women’s role in society.

Yet, once Trump full-throatedly endorsed Robinson, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids,” that was enough to push Robinson to a decisive win over Folwell and Bill Graham.

Among the criticisms of Folwell’s candidacy was that he was too prickly, too boring and didn’t display the same fiery campaign rhetoric as Robinson.

Trump, however, chose to ostracize Robinson from his presidential campaign following the controversial Sept. 19 CNN report, as well as several Southeast Republican governors withdrawing their support.

The CNN report included that Robinson wrote that he was a “Black Nazi” and that he not only supported a return of slavery but that he also wanted to own slaves. The story also said Robinson wrote that he liked to watch transgender porn.

The comments were made on the porn website Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012. Robinson has denied making the comments and has filed a lawsuit against CNN.

Folwell pulled no punches in the aftermath of the bombshell CNN report, calling Robinson a “counterfeit conservative” and “always playing the victim.”

“In the end, North Carolina voters decided they wanted a government that would be more moderate because that is how North Carolinians see themselves,” said Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economics professor at Winston-Salem State University.

Swirling Cooper VP rumors

Saying “It’s not the right time for North Carolina or for me to be on a national ticket,” Cooper pulled on July 30 his name from consideration as a vice presidential candidate for Harris.

Being a popular two-term Democratic governor in a center-right Southern state was viewed by political analysts as a viable ticket-balancing option as Democrats attempting to shift N.C. back into the win column.

CNN reported that Cooper, at 67, was the oldest potential vice president under consideration.

“After all, only one person can be chosen for the vice president nominee, and there are at least a handful of strong candidates who come from swing states and who would provide some ideological balance to the ticket in the way that Cooper would have done,” Dinan said.

Another factor: Political analysts cited Robinson as being a potential deterrent for Cooper pursuing the vice president nominee. Robinson could potentially have issued executive orders as acting governor while Cooper was campaigning out of the state.

As Cooper bowed out of VP consideration, speculation continued to swirl that Cooper is at the top of the list for Democratic challengers for two-term Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in 2026.

John Quinterno, principal with South by North Strategies Ltd. of Chapel Hill, said that given Cooper’s accomplishments as governor and his long career in public service, he “would be a strong candidate” to take on Tillis. 

Veto power dashed, revived

Stein will enter office Jan. 1 with a viable, but razor-thin, veto power since House Democrats were successful in gaining a 49th seat, thus breaking the Republican super-majority after two years.

A super-majority exists when Democrats or Republicans control two-thirds of a chamber’s seats.

Since Republican legislators regained supermajority status in April 2023 after Mecklenburg County Rep. Tricia Cotham switched from Democrat, they overrode 29 Cooper vetoes during the 2023 and 2024 sessions.

Stein said that in the governor’s race, North Carolinians “chose hope over hate, competence over chaos, decency over division.”

Although Stein registered “a clear win,” John Locke Foundation senior political analyst Mitch Kokai cautioned that “he ought to be careful not to view that victory as an overwhelming mandate for his policy prescriptions.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, continues to embrace his role as a potential supporter of certain GOP legislation, telling the News & Record that “you need me. I don’t need you.”

That’s even though four other eastern N.C. House Democrats have been identified as potentially playing the same flipping role.

‘Power grab’ overshadows Helene relief

The Republican-controlled legislature completed Dec. 11 the passing of controversial Senate Bill 382 that curtails or ends certain authorities of four Democratic Council of State seats, as well as making the State Highway Patrol commander post a non-elected Cabinet position appointed by the legislature.

The N.C. House overrode Cooper’s veto by a 72-46 vote along party lines on Dec. 11. Cooper vetoed the bill Nov. 26, calling it “a sham” and a “cruel blow.”

Cooper and Stein needed just a day to file on Dec. 12 a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court challenging the constitutionality of SB382 with the foremost focus on the SHP commander legislation.

SB382 also moves the State Board of Elections to the State Auditor’s Office, prevents the attorney general from undermining state law, and allows the state Treasurer to appoint a member to the Utilities Commission.

SB382 appropriates an additional $227 million in Hurricane Helene disaster relief funding, but doesn’t immediately disperse it.

“The people of western North Carolina are desperate for help from their state government. Yet, this bill is a power grab, not hurricane relief,” Stein said in a statement.

Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, and House speaker for the 2025-26 sessions, said the disaster relief funding in SB382 “has been framed incorrectly” and “this body is entirely committed to helping folks in this state with storm relief.”

School vouchers and ICE

The Republican supermajorities overrode a Cooper veto to make school vouchers to private and religious schools available to all parents no matter their household income, as well as enforcing that urban Democratic sheriffs cooperate with federal ICE agents.

About $460 million is now available for the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program for the 2024-25 school year. Funding for the waitlist is retroactive, with eligible families qualifying for a tuition reimbursement from their schools.

There are more than 72,000 voucher applications for this school year, but only about 16,000 students were approved before the money ran out.

Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, said there have been 27,256 applicants in Tier 1, which includes the lowest-income household, as well as 13,060 in Tier 2, 25,750 in Tier 3 and 12,228 in Tier 4, which Lee said half of which come from Mecklenburg and Wake counties.

All North Carolina sheriffs began Dec. 1 being required to cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for offenses committed on or after that date. Several metro sheriffs — including Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough of Forsyth County and Sheriff Danny Rogers of Guilford County — have limited their cooperation.

“No longer will sheriffs in our most populated counties get away with ignoring federal immigration detainers issued by ICE,” according to a joint statement from Republican Senate Judiciary Committee chairmen Danny Britt Jr. of Robeson County, Warren Daniel of Burke County and Buck Newton of Wilson County.

“With House Bill 10 finally becoming law, and the Trump administration taking over in Washington, we’re on the path toward a stronger border and safer United States.”

Forsyth Superior seat going, going …

Another potential casualty within SB382 is the loss of the Forsyth County Superior Court 31-D seat, held by Democrat Todd Burke.

The seat would be eliminated in 2029, along with a seat in Wake County also held by a Democrat.

In their place, the legislature would create two Superior Court seats, one appointed by the Senate leader and the other by the House speaker. Both judges would serve an eight-year term. Their districts would be identified when the nominees are submitted for appointment.

Rep. Robert Reives, D-Chatham, and House minority leader, said Burke’s seat is being eliminated because he took legal stances opposed by Republican legislative leadership and not because of the quality of his overall work or the lack of need for the seat.

A primary example came in 2017 when Burke was part of a three-judge panel that ruled it was unconstitutional for the Republican supermajority at that time to revamp the state elections board and ethics commission weeks before Cooper was sworn in to his first term as governor.

Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake, and Senate minority leader, called part of the intent of SB328 to allow Republican legislative leaders to be able to turn to favorable Superior Court judges that they appoint, rather than go before judges that may hold them accountable to the constitutionality of their actions.

End of public masking

Yet another successful GOP veto override in House Bill 237 loosened campaign-financing laws and significantly restricted public mask wearing for health and safety reasons.

The insertion of state campaign finance law changes into HB237 has been pitched as either leveling the playing field on corporate and union donations, or opening another floodgate for out-of-state dark money into high-profile 2024 election races.

HB237 became law amid predictions that the Stein-Robinson governor’s race would be among the costliest in the country.

“This legislation creates a gaping loophole for secret, unlimited campaign money in the middle of an election year,” Cooper said in a statement. “The legislation also removes protections and threatens criminal charges for people who want to protect their health by wearing a mask.”

Rep. Sarah Crawford, D-Wake, said the number of North Carolinians affected by the masking part of HB237 could reach 2 million when counting immunocompromised individuals, those that assist them, and workers who require masking to perform their jobs outdoors.

A compromise reached between House and Senate Republican leadership narrowly defined exemptions as allowing individuals ages 16 and older to wear a medical or surgical grade mask for the purpose of preventing the spread of contagious disease — with the condition of removing it upon request by law enforcement.

“Bad actors have been using masks to conceal their identity when they commit crimes and intimidate the innocent,” said Sen. Danny Britt, R-Scotland, and Senate sponsor of HB237.

“Instead of helping put an end to this threatening behavior, the governor wants to continue encouraging these thugs by giving them more time to hide from the consequences of their actions.”

New blood US House members

The Triad will be represented by two new-blood Republican U.S. House candidates in newcomers Pat Harrigan and Addison McDowell.

Both cruised to comfortable victories in their respective 10th and 6th district races considering they were all but ordained once they won their primaries in March given their districts were gerrymandered into safe Republican seats during the 2023 redrawing of the state’s congressional map.

The redrawn map produced what political analysts had projected: a shift from North Carolina’s 14 congressional seats being split at 7-7 to a 10-4 Republican majority.

Their victories were pivotal to U.S. House Republicans holding on to bare majority of seats for the 2025-26 sessions.

Democratic-leaning Winston-Salem is in the new 10th, along with Republican-leaning western Forsyth County suburbs and solidly conservative counties Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln and Yadkin.

The 6th District is the most Triad-centric of the four U.S. House districts in the region. The new map includes Kernersville, Walkertown and the southern Forsyth border — all Republican strongholds.

In Guilford County, the 6th District portion forms a loop shaped like a backward C around the county’s suburban communities and High Point. Also included are all of Davidson, Davie and Rowan counties, and about 20% of Cabarrus County.

Medical marijuana remains on hold

A bipartisan and controversial N.C. Senate medical marijuana bill cleared the chamber in June for the second time during the 2023-24 sessions.

However, Republican House leadership quickly shelved the revamped House Bill 563 without receiving a committee hearing.

Outgoing House speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, told legislative media outlets that for a medical marijuana bill to clear the House, there would need to be “reasonable controls,” and a balance to have enough distributors to prescribe and avoid a monopoly.

Still, a block of House Republicans has opposed any medical marijuana language out of concern that it could serve as a gateway to legalized recreational marijuana use. They also claim that medical research isn’t definitive that it benefits users.

The bill also contains language that would: place Tianeptine, Xylazine and Kratom on the state’s controlled substance schedules; create criminal penalties for criminal possession and unlawful sale of embalming fluid; and create penalties for exposing a minor to a controlled substance.

HB563 would permit the use of medical marijuana — prescribed only by licensed physician — for individuals with ALS, cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments, but not for those experiencing chronic pain.

Importantly, the bill does not allow recreational marijuana usage or the marketing of medical marijuana to anyone under age 21.