There has been much speculation about what the incoming Trump administration and his MAGA base have in store for the country. Despite vehement denials by Trump and his running mate (what was his name?), Project 2025 has already laid out much of the agenda. But in North Carolina, we have already seen how MAGA works.
Of the 10 Council of State offices in North Carolina (all elected statewide), in the November 2024 election Democrats won five, including governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Despite also winning five of the offices, Republicans were not satisfied with the people’s preferences.
In the lame-duck session, the legislature passed SB 382, which radically alters the governing authority of offices with Democratic electeds. Euphemistically called a hurricane disaster relief bill, it provides almost no money for the state’s western counties hardest hit by the recent hurricane.
At the time, the Republicans held a supermajority in both houses. This was made possible when Tricia Cotham, who ran as a Democrat in 2022 and had previously served 10 years in the State House as a Democrat, changed her party affiliation to Republican in April 2023. Cotham supported SB 382 and the override of the governor’s veto.
“It’s really ugly,” says N.C. House Rep. John Autry, who opted not to seek reelection but was still a member of the State House when this bill was voted on. “It’s a way for Republicans to say to the voters of the state of North Carolina, ‘we couldn’t gerrymander the statewide election, so this is what we can do to change the outcome of the election.’”
And North Carolina is significantly gerrymandered. Even though the state is clearly purple (given the outcome of the statewide races), the Republicans have ensured a 10-4 advantage in Congressional seats and near supermajorities in both state houses.
What will SB 382 do? Below are some of the most egregious elements:
- Prohibits the attorney general (a Democrat) from taking positions in lawsuits that contradict the legislature’s position (Republican-controlled in both houses)
- Shifts the power to appoint State Board of Elections members from the governor (a Democrat) to the state auditor (a Republican)
- Creates two special Superior Court Judge positions to be appointed by the legislative leadership, and removes two elected Superior Court seats
- Curtails the role of the lieutenant governor (an incoming Democrat) in casting tiebreaking votes in the State Senate
- Requires all provisional ballots to be researched and counted by 5 p.m. on the third day after Election Day
- Slashes the number of days from nine to three that voters have to “cure” or fix their provisional ballots
- Allows political parties to use their party headquarters building funds to fund a legal action or to make donations to a candidate’s legal expense funds (in the state, building funds are the only way for political parties to accept unlimited corporate contributions)
- Requires all mail-in ballots to be counted in an ongoing meeting starting at 5 p.m. on Election Day
- Abolishes the Courts Commission, which studies and makes recommendations to improve issues in the Judicial Branch, like eliminating racially disparate treatment
In a statement vetoing the legislation, Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said that “this legislation is a sham. It does not send money to Western North Carolina [for hurricane relief] but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh.
“This legislation…violates the constitution by taking appointments away from the next governor for the Board of Elections, Utilities Commission and Commander of the N.C. Highway Patrol, letting political parties choose appellate judges and interfering with the attorney general’s ability to advocate for lower electric bills for consumers.
“Instead of giving small business grants to disaster counties it strikes a cruel blow by blocking the extension of better unemployment benefits for people who have lost jobs because of natural disasters.”
Cooper termed out and was replaced by Josh Stein, previously the state’s attorney general, as governor. Stein, also a Democrat, defeated Mark Robinson, the controversial lieutenant governor who turned out to be too radical for even the MAGA crowd or perhaps too much a person of color to be MAGA-acceptable.
As the bill was under consideration, Tim Moore, then speaker of the State House, went on Steve Bannon’s podcast and said that SB 382 would make “sure N.C. continues to be able to do what it can to deliver victories for Republicans up and down the ticket.”
According to Autry, most of the Republican members of the legislature “believe that they are the only party that should be governing the state, the country…They are finally achieving what was prefaced during Bush 43—that single-party rule is the way to go.
“They’re not really interested in governing, they just want to rule.”
As if SB 382 were not enough, MAGA has another initiative currently under way in North Carolina. In a State Supreme Court race, the Democrat, Allison Riggs, defeated the Republican, Jefferson Griffin, by around 700 votes. However, Griffin is now challenging the eligibility of 60,000 voters.
After both a machine and hand recount, Riggs was declared the winner. Despite having already lost two court challenges, Griffin is pushing forward with his efforts to disenfranchise voters.
“If they are successful in this scheme, there will be copy lawsuits across this country for races where they don’t like the result,” Cooper said. “If Republicans are successful in validating fair, legal votes past the election date like this, this will have broad implications across the country.”
“An independent judiciary has no place in the Republican agenda,” adds Autry.
“Cynics have been saying for years that North Carolina is no longer, technically, a democracy,” notes Billy Ball, a senior editor at Cardinal & Pine, an online news site that covers N.C. politics.
“As Jefferson Griffin and his allies in the Republican Party move closer to tossing out an inconvenient defeat, it’s looking more and more like those cynics have a point.
“This is a test: of elections, checks and balances, judicial independence and, most importantly, of American democracy. If we fail, it will stain this state for generations.” Not to mention the country.
