Weekly Recap: NC Senate map upheld, legislative party buckers ousted and a fresh request for lawmakers
State Elections officials certified the results of the 2024 primaries, Republicans captured a redistricting win and I made my most generous request of lawmakers: minimal transparency.
Let’s take a look back at the week that was in North Carolina politics…
😖 Defeated incumbents
On Tuesday, North Carolina elections officials certified the 2024 primary results.
A day earlier, state Rep. Michael Wray conceded to social studies teacher Rodney Pierce.
Last year, Wray sided with Republicans the most of the 68 Democrats in the General Assembly, voting with the majority 84% of the time.
Wray was far from the only crossover lawmaker to get the boot.
The state’s least conservative Republican, state Rep. George Cleveland, was voted out of office in a surprise defeat to East Carolina University student Wyatt Gable. Cleveland sided with the majority 89% of the time.
Two other incumbents lost their reelection bids: GOP state Rep. Kevin Crutchfield and Democratic state Sen. Mike Woodard.
🏆 Republicans get redistricting win
A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that North Carolina’s state Senate map could still be used for the 2024 election, putting Republicans in a better position to maintain their supermajority in the chamber.
Democrats and voting access groups sought to block the map’s implementation, arguing that the new lines unconstitutionally dilute the voting power of Black residents in a pair of eastern districts.
In a split decision, three appeals court judges let stand a lower court’s decision to leave the map in place.
Writing for the majority, Judge Allison Jones Rushing, a Trump appointee, said map challengers didn’t meet the high bar needed to redraw the maps while elections are already underway. Judge Roger Gregory, a Clinton and George W. Bush appointee, dissented, writing that the state Senate map “cracked the state’s Black Belt right down the middle.”
🐘Top House Republican resigns
North Carolina House Deputy Majority Whip Jon Hardister informed legislative staff on Thursday that he would resign from office effective April 8.
His resignation letter was first obtained by Anderson Alerts.
“I am passionate about public service, but it is now time to shift my focus to private sector work and spending time with family," Hardister wrote.
The decision comes weeks after he lost his labor commissioner bid to GOP activist Luke Farley.
🤫 Minimum transparency
Following my story on the lack of transparency in the legislature, some have privately said they didn’t respond to my public records request for maximum transparency because they believed it was unduly burdensome, would take their staff too much time too process or that I might compromise their constituents’ information. Other lawmakers told me my request merely slipped through the cracks during a busy time for them in the legislature.
So with this in mind, I revised my original request and also made a new one to call the bluff.
The revised request: Communications sent to or received by lawmakers between Jan. 1, 2023 (start of session) and Oct. 3, 2023 (date budget was enacted).
And in case that’s too much for folks, I made a separate request for lawmakers to disclose at least one email of their choice that they’ve sent or received since the start of the legislative session, the bare minimum transparency. I set a deadline for them to respond to this request by noon on April 24— the start of the short session.
If lawmakers don’t like a request for three years worth of information, surely one email of their choice shouldn’t be an issue. So lawmakers have plenty of time to prove to the public that they can be even the least bit transparent.
Thus far, eight lawmakers have provided me at least some documents: Democratic Sens. Graig Meyer and Dan Blue, Democratic Reps. Marcia Morey, Wesley Harris, Mary Belk, Deb Butler and Julie Von Haefen and Republican Rep. Benton Sawrey.
When the short session starts, I’ll have a fresh story on which lawmakers were and weren’t responsive.
Other stories
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in North Carolina on Tuesday.
Also, Republicans elected a new state party chairman: Jason Simmons.
I was tied up this week wrapping up reporting on a story that has been weeks in the works, so couldn’t get around to these major news items.
With that in mind, here are some of the top reads outside this newsletter from the week that was in North Carolina politics…
📖 5 essential reads
North Carolina GOP executive director elected as next state chairman (Associated Press)
In North Carolina, Biden Attacks Trump and G.O.P. Over Health Care (Maya King // New York Times)
An ECU student could soon be NC's youngest legislator (Colin Campbell // WUNC)
Decades After a Scandal, North Carolina Places a Big Bet (Steve Riley and John Drescher // The Assembly)
North Carolina elections board finalizes results from primary marked by new voter ID rules (Gary Robertson // Associated Press)
🐦Tweet of the Week
A kudos to NC State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams for advancing to the Final Four a la Gov. Roy Cooper, whose Tar Heels men’s basketball team lost in the Sweet 16 to Alabama.
What to watch for this week
I shall return to your feed this week with a fun story, so stay tuned!