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State lawmakers return to Raleigh next week after a dramatic midterm election in which Republicans lost their House majority and saw their Senate lead drastically diminished.

The GOP controls both chambers until the end of the year, though, and they’ve got several items on their to-do list for the lame-duck period.

Republican leaders could hold votes between November 16-20 and November 30-December 18. Here are a few things to watch:

Election Law Changes

Over the summer, lawmakers voted along party lines to pass a sweeping elections bill. One of the most notable changes was reducing the early voting window in primary elections from 17 days to 10 days. 

Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the measure, which would also allow Republican Auditor Dave Boliek to conduct post-election audits in randomly selected counties statewide. 

Stein also took exception to a provision allowing North Carolina voters to challenge other people’s ballots cast during early voting for up to three days after Election Day. He has described that as similar to Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin’s 2024 push to retroactively void the ballots of tens of thousands of voters in his unsuccessful campaign for state Supreme Court, including many that the State Board of Elections and a Trump-appointed judge (as well as The Assembly’s reporting) concluded were legitimate.

Republicans haven’t said whether they’ll try to override Stein’s veto. They don’t have the votes to do so without help from lawmakers outside their party, but they could if one non-Republican joins them or two aren’t present when a floor vote is called. 

After losing their Democratic primaries in March and leaving the party, unaffiliated Reps. Carla Cunningham and Nasif Majeed of Mecklenburg County have routinely bucked the governor. But Cunningham opposed the bill when it was considered on the floor. Majeed wasn’t present for the vote. 

Separately, lawmakers will need to review a string of administrative changes proposed by the Republican-controlled State Board of Elections, including rules to crack down on amplified noise at polling sites and make it easier for county election boards to reject ballots if the voter doesn’t provide photo ID.

Gov. Josh Stein, pictured with Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley, vetoed an election-related bill. Republicans could try to override his veto in the lame-duck session. (Matt Ramey for The Assembly)

Affordability

Lawmakers voted last month to suspend the state’s 41-cent gas tax through the end of November. The move cost an estimated $362 million. GOP leaders said the state’s Inflation Reserve Fund would backfill the lost revenue to the Department of Transportation.

When leaders return to Raleigh, they’ll have to decide whether to extend the moratorium or let the relief at the fuel pumps lapse.

Power Grabs

When the GOP lost its House supermajority in the 2024 election, lawmakers used the lame-duck period to reduce Gov.-elect Stein’s appointment powers and change oversight of elections from the governor to the state auditor. That shifted control of the state and county boards of election to the GOP.

Now, Republicans may look for ways to hang onto power after Democratic newcomers take office in January. They could do that by redrawing congressional voting maps, shifting more appointment power from the governor to other executive officeholders, or giving the auditor more funding or authority to scrutinize Democrats. 

New Leaders

Next week, the House Democratic caucus will meet to select its senior leaders. They are expected to formally pick Robert Reives to serve as speaker. While Reives will need confirmation by the full House in January as well, his second-in-command and several whips, who will make sure Democratic lawmakers vote with the party, will be chosen at next week’s meeting.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, will spend the next month considering who should lead that chamber next year. Senate leader Phil Berger lost his primary in March, so he leaves office at the end of the year. Four Republicans are vying to fill the power vacuum: Sens. Jim Burgin of Harnett County, Ralph Hise of Mitchell County, Todd Johnson of Union County, and Brent Jackson of Sampson County.

If Senate Republicans can’t reach consensus, it could set off a mad scramble on the first day of the new legislative session, set for January 13.

Bryan Anderson is a politics reporter for The Assembly, covering state government and anchoring our twice-weekly politics newsletter, The Caucus. He previously covered elections, voting access, and state government for WRAL-TV, The Associated Press, and The News & Observer.