“Democrats will hold some of North Carolina\u2019s highest offices, including the governorship, come January. But these incoming lawmakers will be less powerful than their predecessors, after the Republican-dominated legislature stripped away several of their duties this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It isn\u2019t the first time Republicans in North Carolina\u2019s state legislature have shifted the balance of power away from Democrats and toward members of their own party. As a result, the North Carolina governorship is a weaker office than it is in many other states \u2014 and Republicans will have a remarkable degree of influence over state politics, despite Democratic victories at the ballot box in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Carolina is a deeply polarized state, and was considered a battleground in the 2024 elections. Now, when Gov.-elect Josh Stein and other Democrats take office in 2025, the battle will be between them and a legislature still dominated by Republicans.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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“The state legislature, known as the General Assembly, didn\u2019t just target Stein, although he\u2019s the most high-profile official that the new law applies to. The incoming lieutenant governor, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction (who oversees the state\u2019s public school system) all had authority stripped from them in the new legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are two major changes to Stein\u2019s authority. First, he loses the ability to make appointments to North Carolina\u2019s five-person elections board. Previously, the governor appointed two Republicans and two Democrats, and a fifth member who could belong to either political party. (Typically, the governor appointed a member of their own party for that final slot.) The State Board of Elections chooses four of the five members of each county board, with the governor appointing the fifth member \u2014 again, usually a member of the governor\u2019s party. Those powers will now be in the hands of the new state auditor, Republican Dave Boliek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt shifts from Democratic control to Republican control, because the auditor is now a Republican, and if they keep the same basic principle, he\u2019ll appoint three Republicans and Democrats will appoint two,\u201d Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at North Carolina\u2019s Catawba College, told Vox. \u201cWhether that will be significant in terms of what the election board does in the future, I think we\u2019ll just have to wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps of greater significance, Stein will also have limits around who he can appoint to vacant state supreme court and Court of Appeals seats; now, rather than appointing any qualified person, the law states he must choose from a list \u201crecommended by the political party executive committee of the political party with which the vacating judge was affiliated when elected<\/a>,\u201d preventing him from significantly changing the balance of power in those courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other significant change relates to incoming Attorney General Jeff Jackson. Under the new law, he will be required to defend the state legislature\u2019s bills when they are challenged at any level.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n