The GOP in North Carolina is in a hurry. You would think people serving in a body that was elected in unconstitutional districts would be cautious about how quickly they move. Not the Republicans in this state. They have all the hubris they brought to power when they first took control with veto-proof majorities in 2013. Instead of treading softly, they’re running through the state like a bull in a china shop.
They’re passing bills to rig the judicial system now because they might not be able to in the future. They’re redrawing judicial districts to make them more favorable to Republicans. They’re making nonpartisan races partisan. They’re even scrapping judicial primaries to make next year’s ballot long and confusing, hoping to give GOP candidates an advantage.
The Republicans in the North Carolina legislature know that their power is probably about to diminish. Their districts have been found unconstitutional and the ones they’ve drawn might be thrown out, too, and will likely be redrawn by judges. In addition, the 2018 midterm is shaping up to be a tough cycle for the GOP. Trump is unpopular, the GOP Congress is inept and, historically, the first midterm of a new presidency is bad for the party in the White House.
Republicans might not lose either chamber but the odds are better than not that they lose their veto proof majority in at least one house of the legislature. Without a Republican governor, they’ll have difficulty passing their most extreme legislation. So, now, they’re moving forcefully to rig the system as much as possible.
Since the Republicans took power, the legislature has attempted to redistrict local boards and commissions to give the GOP advantages in local control. They’ve made nonpartisan municipal and school board races partisan. They’ve used gerrymandering and voter suppression to try to lock in their power. They’re making judicial races partisan at a time when the trend is to make them less partisan. They’ve politicized everything they can.
Republicans in North Carolina have been reckless with our democracy. They’ve tried to rig elections in every way possible to give Republicans partisan advantage. Much of their work has been hampered by the courts but instead of respecting the separation of powers, they’re trying to rig the courts, too. They’ve shown little respect for voters, institutions, democracy or the rule of law. They look far more like authoritarians trying to concentrate power than leaders trying to interpret and carry out the will of the people.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
It’s actually more of a representative republic rather than a democracy, but if you want to call it that, so be it, Be sure to give those reprobates credit for the good they’ve done (albeit there isn’t much, I’ll admit) as well as calling out their more disreputable activities. Certainly, dropping an electoral threshold to 30% is dangerous and outrageous and I’d have to question if it even passes constitutional muster. But on the opposite side of the coin, they may have actually enhanced our, um, democracy, when they passed SB 656 so that third parties have a much better shot at ballot access. I’ve heard the Green Party is already acting on this. Exciting times for those of us who really don’t fit into either major Party, I look forward to the opportunity to compete for votes in the marketplace of ideas as a member of a new Party.
We should mark your article as Exhibit “A” in the two ongoing federal court cases — both the racial and political gerrymandering cases. The courts are our last bastion for protecting our democracy and the Constitution. I suspect somewhere in the Constitution it is written in invisible ink by the original signers that the states may gerrymander by computer down to the last household to increase their authoritarian control of our government. The Republicans can thus say that this was the original intent of our Founding Fathers.
Accurate. And shameful, which obviously matters not in the least to them or their voters, who also bear responsibility for this.. The barely concealed glee of some.in the GOP ranks over the damage being done to this state and country is beyond comprehension. I have concluded that greed and racism are a sufficient impetus for almost any anti-democratic behavior. I fear the children of these adults may carry on their beliefs and hatreds, aided by a social media process that more and more resembles idiocy run amuck. I hope I am wrong.
Thank, Thomas for this column. I know that it is written for your North Carolina audience. I hope it is read by Tar Heels, of whom I am a native. But it also needs to be read by Virginians, who will select between Democrat Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie for governor in a few days. A Gillespie win would put the Virginia GOP in a position to do in the Old Dominion, my home for the past quarter of a century, what the North Carolina GOP is doing in your state. Voters have been warned in both states. It is hoped they are not asleep this time.