2023 Recap: What you need to know from the year that was in North Carolina politics
A look back on the top stories of 2023 and winners and losers from the past year.
Redistricting drama, a prolonged budget fight, an impactful party switch, an auditor under fire and lots of candidate filing drama. Those are some of the takeaways from a hyperactive year in North Carolina politics.
Rather than take a look back at the week that was, today’s edition will reflect on the year that was.
But before we dive in, some housekeeping notes if you didn’t see Friday’s post:
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Let’s begin with the stories you showed the most interest in…
Most-Read Stories of 2023
These were the 10 most-read stories of the past year:
#1: NC Auditor Beth Wood to resign, will leave office Dec. 15
North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood's resignation comes as she faces a grand jury indictment over allegedly misusing a state vehicle for personal purposes.
#2: How a little-known lobbyist got Trump’s endorsement
Republican lobbyist Addison McDowell is running for North Carolina's 6th Congressional District with the support of former President Donald Trump. Here's how that happened.
#3: The winners and losers of North Carolina's redistricting (Legislative Edition)
While some state and federal lawmakers stand to have a greater chance of being elected, others will be drawn out of their districts altogether.
#4: Cotham to run for state House reelection, avoid contested congressional primary
North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham has told Republican colleagues and party leadership that she'll run in the newly drawn House District 105.
#5: Longtime Democratic political consultant Conen Morgan dies in boating accident
Political consultant Conen Morgan had long advised Democratic candidates and officeholders in North Carolina.
#6: 5 things to know about how NC lawmakers voted this year and who didn't show up for work
I analyzed voting and attendance data for all of North Carolina's 170 state lawmakers. Here are the takeaways:
#7: Candidate Filing Day 10 Takeaways
Two legislative Democrats known for working across the aisle face primary challenges, Sen. Mary Wills Bode isn't seeking higher office and a Republican gubernatorial candidate didn't file for office.
I asked all nine of North Carolina's 2024 gubernatorial candidates what they made of provisions in a newly enacted state budget allowing lawmakers to sell and destroy records. Here's what they said:
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed an elections bill and a measure aiming to reduce his influence on state boards and commissions.
#10: A new meaning to political outsider
In North Carolina, one in four congressional candidates can't vote for themselves.
Winners and losers of 2023
Last week, I asked folks to chime in with their thoughts on the biggest winners and losers of 2023 in North Carolina politics.
I tried to narrow my selections to nine individuals: three who had a great 2023, three with a mixed year and three with a bad year. Here’s where thing wound up:
2023 Winners
FIRST PLACE: Tim Moore
SECOND PLACE: Anderson Clayton
THIRD PLACE: Kody Kinsley
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Paul Newby, Mandy Cohen and Tricia Cotham
TIM MOORE
Coming in at first place is House Speaker Tim Moore. This was an easy call for me, though Twitter may disagree.
Moore began the year overseeing a chamber that was one seat shy of a supermajority. But through a sustained effort, he and others in his caucus got Rep. Tricia Cotham to switch parties, and in so doing, cement the GOP’s veto-proof control of the legislature by early April.
With a supermajority in place, Moore was able to get 19 bills to become law over the objection of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. He also tied Medicaid expansion to the budget, thus forcing Senate leader Phil Berger into a less advantageous negotiating position. Moore’s chamber also stood firm in not going along with Berger’s aim to add casino expansion into the budget.
With a new redistricting map, Moore and his colleagues drew the Cleveland County Republican into a safe GOP seat. And as Moore prepared for a contentious primary, he wound up with an early Christmas present when Rep. Patrick McHenry announced he wouldn’t run for reelection. The move prompted businessman Pat Harrigan to run in McHenry’s district instead of Moore’s, giving Moore a far easier pathway to Washington, D.C. Of all 170 state lawmakers, Moore came out of 2023 as the biggest redistricting winner.
And even when the year reached low points for Moore, he was able to overcome them.
Most notably, he admitted to having a sexual relationship with a married woman who was also a state employee. After the estranged husband brought forward the lawsuit, Moore settled the case and kept the details of any resolution out of public view. It didn’t take long for the scandal to disappear from the headlines. And when Moore faced scrutiny for appointing a former law school classmate of his and sanctioned lawyer onto the very commission that disciplined the appointee months earlier, the pushback went away nearly as quickly as it arrived. The appointee, Rob Davis, has since decided not to be seated onto the State Bar Disciplinary Commission, according to Sen. Danny Britt.
For those reasons and others, Moore is unequivocally the biggest winner of 2023.
ANDERSON CLAYTON
In second place is North Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton. In February, Clayton became the youngest state party chair in the country by defeating Bobbie Richardson, the incumbent who had the backing of Cooper and seemingly all of North Carolina’s top Democratic officeholders.
Shortly after her victory, Clayton saw the party’s legislative agenda crushed by Cotham switching parties. Since then, Clayton has put her focus on 2024 candidate recruitment, making inroads in rural parts of the state— areas where Democrats are unpopular and have seldom campaigned in recent cycles.
Clayton set a goal of putting up a Democratic candidate in all 170 legislative races. She wound up getting a candidate in all but two districts. Of the 102 GOP incumbents, only one is guaranteed to keep his seat— Rep. Jason Saine. By contrast, Republicans gave Democrats 24 guaranteed seats by not putting up candidates in 33 races. While few races are actually competitive, Democrats have more bandwidth to go on the attack as Republicans play defense.
Why not first place for Clayton? Democrats lost a key legislative member while Clayton was chair, suffered a number of policy defeats in the legislature and had internal party drama after Hamas attacked Israel. Is Clayton responsible for all of this? No. But it does give Moore the edge for a better 2023? Yes.
KODY KINSLEY
In third place is Kody Kinsley, the secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services. Kinsley took office this year.
Before and after his appointment, he developed close relationships with Republican lawmakers and forcefully made the case for Medicaid expansion. In so doing, he helped achieve the governor’s greatest policy goal and is now tasked with carrying it out.
Despite a later than desired implementation due to months-long budget negotiations, Medicaid expansion launched Dec. 1.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
I kept going back and forth on third place. North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby had a very strong case. Through the state budget, Newby secured a number of victories.
Most notably, he’s free to serve out the remainder of his term through 2028 because state lawmakers raised the mandatory retirement age from 72 to 76.
As Newby requested, the budget also eliminated any automatic right to of appeal to the state Supreme Court when a Court of Appeals panel reaches a split decision. Additionally, judges can carry gun in the courtroom under the newly enacted budget.
Finally, the Judicial Standards Commission, which is tasked with looking into claims of misconduct by judges, is investigating Democratic Justice Anita Earls for criticizing the high court for a lack of diversity. The makeup of the body will become more conservative, as the budget creates a likely 12-2 GOP edge and possibly a 14-0 GOP-controlled commission if a Republican governor is elected in 2024.
Presiding over a new GOP majority in place this year, Newby and his colleagues dealt a blow to Democrats and voting access groups this year by overturning the prior liberal court’s redistricting decisions, thus allowing for legalized partisan gerrymandering and killing Democrats’ ability to turn to state courts to successfully challenge voting maps.
With that said, Medicaid expansion was perhaps the most consequential policy item achieved in 2023, giving Kinsley the edge.
More distantly, I gave honorable mentions to former NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen and Cotham.
President Joe Biden this year appointed Cohen as his director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although she wasn’t in office in North Carolina this year, her longstanding efforts to expand Medicaid were finally realized.
Cotham was among the top redistricting winners. When she won in 2022, the Mecklenburg County Democrat was in a district that went for Biden in 2020 by 17 percentage points. But after switching parties, she needed a more favorable district to have any chance of winning reelection. In 2024, her district moves to one that swung for Trump by 2 percentage points.
Cotham was given two viable campaign options through redistricting: a safe GOP congressional district that would have a highly competitive primary or a tossup state House seat that would have a free path to the general election. Cotham picked a state House reelection bid over a congressional run.
2023 Mixed Bag
FIRST PLACE: Phil Berger
SECOND PLACE: Roy Cooper
THIRD PLACE: Natasha Marcus
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Jason Saine, Scott Lassiter
PHIL BERGER
Berger had the biggest mix of wins and losses this year.
With a supermajority, Berger’s chamber overrode all 19 bills that Cooper had vetoed. The top Senate Republican lawmaker also secured a victory with Medicaid expansion, which he aggressively worked to get the House to consider.
But he also had very public losses and intraparty drama this year. Most notably, Berger sought to expand casinos and allow for video lottery terminals. The effort received bipartisan pushback, and Berger’s efforts to include gaming provisions in the budget proved unsuccessful.
One of his biggest critics, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page was considering primarying Berger. But toward the end of candidate filing, Page decided to instead remain in the crowded lieutenant governor’s race.
Also of note: Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker was drawn out of Berger’s Senate district, sidestepping the possibility of a contested 2024 legislative primary between the two.
Overall, Berger saw a number of policy wins this, but faced tremendous resistance over expanded gambling. In the end, he averted a contested primary and is on a clear path to reelection, hence the most mixed year.
ROY COOPER
Cooper had a tough year with 19 veto overrides, a Democratic defection and a string of Republican-led efforts to reduce his appointment powers.
With that said, the governor also got a win with his biggest policy objective since taking office in 2017. Medicaid expansion is now implemented.
NATASHA MARCUS
Democratic state Sen. Natasha Marcus was drawn out of her district, but party leaders found another spot for her as the next potential insurance commissioner.
Marcus is running with the support and encouragement of Attorney General Josh Stein. However, the behind scenes drama prompted Democratic activist David Wheeler to stay in the race. Wheeler has a background in opposition research and could make Marcus a weaker general election candidate.
Regardless, Marcus is the frontrunner and could again hold elected office.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Republican state Rep. Jason Saine won’t be the next House speaker or a congressman, but was the lone Republican given a free pass to 2025 due to no primary or general election opponents. Meanwhile, state Senate candidate Scott Lassiter has a shot at winning a toss-up legislative seat in 2024. Earlier this year, he settled a lawsuit with Moore over an affair Moore had with his wife.
2023 Losers
FIRST PLACE: Beth Wood
SECOND PLACE: Jeff Jackson/Kathy Manning/Wiley Nickel
THIRD PLACE: Patrick McHenry
(DIS)HONORABLE MENTIONS: Robert Reives, Bo Hines, Cecil Brockman, Terence Everitt and Mark Walker
BETH WOOD
Wood resigned on Dec. 15 amid a grand jury indictment over allegedly misusing a state vehicle for personal purposes, including drives to and from hair appointments, dentist visits, spa outings and out-of-town shopping centers.
Wood’s office was caught off guard by the resignation, with spokespeople scrambling to confirm the news of Wood’s resignation and draft a statement.
The news marked a dramatic fall for Wood, who was widely respected by members of both parties for her work holding government entities accountable. She had planned on running for reelection.
Earlier this year, Wood pleaded guilty to a separate misdemeanor charge involving her crashing a state-owned vehicle into a parked car in December 2022 and fleeing the scene. A judge ordered her to pay fines and court costs.
JACKSON/MANNING/NICKEL
This is a 3-for-1. Democratic Reps. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte, Kathy Manning of Greensboro and Wiley Nickel of Cary have all announced that they won’t seek reelection. This comes as GOP state lawmakers redrew their districts so that they would likely elect Republicans.
Jackson is running for attorney general. Manning has said she’d consider running again for U.S. House if the map was redrawn. Nickel has announced his intention to run for U.S. Senate in 2026.
PATRICK MCHENRY
McHenry made no secret that he didn’t want to be U.S. Speaker of the House. He wound up serving during a tumultuous three weeks. He abruptly announced that he wouldn’t seek reelection— a sign of exhaustion with life in Congress. His speakership can best be summed up in one GIF.
(DIS)HONORABLE MENTIONS
House Democratic Leader Robert Reives lost a Democratic member to the GOP, giving Republicans a legislative supermajority. Reives also struggled to keep his own party together on votes, with Reps. Shelly Willingham, Garland Pierce, Michael Wray, Cecil Brockman, and Carla Cunningham among the top defectors.
Brockman had considered leaving the party altogether. Another member, Rep. Terence Everitt was banished to the basement of the Legislative Building after calling for an investigation into Moore’s relationship with a married woman. During candidate filing, he announced his retirement so he could spend time with family. Within days, he pivoted after being asked to run for the seat Sen. Mary Wills Bode would vacate.
On the congressional side, Republican Bo Hines and former Rep. Mark Walker lost out on a Trump endorsement. It dealt a body blow to Hines, who had aligned himself closely with Trump. Walker ran for governor this year, further putting him at odds with Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Between Berger, Trump, Robinson and Sen. Ted Budd, Walker now finds himself at odds with many of the state’s most powerful leaders.
What to watch for
On Monday, I’ll be ringing in the new year with my first column in more than six years. So if you haven’t upgraded to a paid membership, you very much should.
Later in the week, I’ll share which primary races you should be monitoring, either because they’ll be close or because they could shed light on the directions the Democratic and Republican parties are heading.