Republican NC Governor Just Signed A Bill Neutering Incoming Democratic Governor
The people of North Carolina rejected their despot governor, Pat McCrory, and his bid for another term as the state’s chief executive. He was defeated by North Carolina’s attorney General Roy Cooper by around 10,000 votes. While it was not a landslide defeat, anytime a right-wing bigoted zealot is removed from power is a victory for sanity and reason. To show his contempt to the people of his great state, McCrory is doing his best to impede Cooper’s gubernatorial ascension by passing a litany of laws in the twilight of his term to limit the power of the governor. Naturally, these are laws that McCrory himself did not have to adhere to. All of this has come after the Democratic party raised thousands of dollars to help the Republican party headquarters which was firebombed.
McCrory knew he was going to be faced with a close election and he sought to prevent hundreds of thousands of citizens from voting through a ridiculous voter ID law which was blocked by a federal judge. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate the law, to which McCrory protested. Those who pay attention to analysis know voter ID laws are a sham, and that voter fraud is not rampant and barely exists. In fact, the far majority of the instances of voter fraud which have been documented have been perpetuated by Republicans, but who has time for facts?
The despicable Republican-controlled legislature used for political cover the guise of an emergency session for “disaster relief” from the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew, but they were actually implementing McCrory’s nefarious plan to limit Cooper’s ability to govern. The laws removed the governor’s power to appoint new members to his cabinet without the approval of the state legislative approval. Furthermore, and which will have a greater impact in the future, the governor will no longer have the power to oversee the state’s election board.
The true effect of limiting the governor’s ability to oversee the election board will not be immediately visible. Previously the board consisted of five members, and the governor could appoint three members from their own party. Under the new law the board is reduced to four members, and the governor may only appoint two members from their own party. This is important as the election board appoints individuals to county election boards. This means Republicans had the ability to stack the elections in their favor and now Democrats will not have that luxury under McCrory. It also means that if McCrory chooses the wrong individuals to serve on the state board it could have grave reverberations across the entire state’s election process.
Asked for his thoughts on what the outgoing administration was doing Cooper said, “Major changes in the way state government operates should be done deliberately, with input from all parties, particularly something as important as elections and making sure people have the opportunity to vote. They shouldn’t be pushed through in the dark of night.”
When Coooper is sworn in as governor he will be forced to contend with a state legislature that has both houses controlled by Republicans and they’ve made their intentions well known. They do not intend to work with Cooper, but to thwart his agenda at any cost.
