The Caucus: Who Has the Advantage?

---

Who Has the Advantage?

A three-judge panel on the North Carolina Court of Appeals allowed Republican state Auditor Dave Boliek to oversee the State Board of Elections starting on Thursday.

Why this matters: The NCSBE has been controlled by Democrats, but Republicans have long sought to take control. The state Republican Party and Democratic Party each get two members. Prior to the court ruling, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein could appoint the fifth, giving the state elections board a 3-2 Democratic advantage.

Now—thanks to a law Republicans passed in December—the auditor gets to fill that slot, giving the GOP the 3-2 advantage. A lower court struck down the new law, but the appeals court on Wednesday revived it. Now, all 100 county elections boards could see a similar shift toward conservatives starting June 25. 

Within hours of his new appointment authority, the state Republican Party sent Boliek a list of four nominees. Boliek renewed the term of GOP elections board member Stacy Eggers. He also tapped former Civitas Institute president Francis De Luca and former GOP Sen. Bob Rucho to join the NCSBE. The lone nominee not chosen: NCSBE member Kevin Lewis of Nash County.

The North Carolina Democratic Party submitted a list of nominees to Boliek later in the day, but offered some choice words about the process.

“You were not elected to do this duty. It has been given to you, not by the people of the state, but by partisan politicians,” NCDP Chairwoman Anderson Clayton wrote in a letter to Boliek.

Boliek chose to have NCSBE members Siobhan O’Duffy Millen and Jeff Carmon serve another term. 

Meanwhile, Stein is asking the state Supreme Court, which has a 5-2 GOP majority, to halt the Court of Appeals decision that allowed Boliek to reshape the NCSBE. 

Stein says he worries a new conservative-led elections board could bolster Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin’s quest to overturn his apparent 734-vote defeat in last year’s Supreme Court race against Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs.

“I fear that this decision is the latest step in the partisan effort to steal a seat on the Supreme Court,” Stein said in a statement. “No emergency exists that can justify the Court of Appeals’ decision to interject itself at this point.”

The Court of Appeals, which has a 12-3 GOP advantage, issued a unanimous order from a three-judge panel. The judges weren’t named; clerk Eugene Soar said their names will be released 90 days from the day the order was issued. The court has issued unsigned public rulings before that overturned lower court decisions related to election processes.

More to Know:

• Remember our story last month on “never residents” in Griffin’s election protest who actually had lived in North Carolina? Well, based on a comprehensive review, it appears there are at least 30 people incorrectly labeled “never residents.” They include 22 people with a history of in-person voting and eight additional voters identified through basic online searches as having been born in North Carolina, resided in North Carolina, still living in North Carolina, or some combination of the three.
• U.S. District Court Judge Richard Myers, who is overseeing the Griffin-Riggs dispute, has given parties involved until the end of today to provide “any material facts they believe remain genuinely in dispute.”
• On Thursday, elections officials shared that they had removed nearly 500,000 people from the voter rolls between January and March. Eighty-four percent were folks who hadn’t voted in years, while 9 percent had moved within or out of the state. Five non-citizens were removed from the rolls. 
• May 8 is the “crossover” deadline in the General Assembly, when most bills must clear their chamber in order to progress this session. There are workarounds, but the clock is ticking for many members to have any hope of their proposals getting enacted.

–Bryan Anderson

---

Thanks for reading The Caucus, a politics newsletter anchored by Bryan Anderson. Reach us with tips or ideas at politics@theassemblync.com.

Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to get The Assembly’s twice-weekly politics newsletter.

---

Firing Squad Reinstatement Advances

The bill that would reinstate death by firing squad and the electric chair as capital punishment methods in North Carolina advanced out of a House judiciary committee this week. HB 270 now moves to the 21-member House state and local government committee, of which two thirds of the membership is Republican.

Tuesday’s hearing was the bill’s first public airing in the General Assembly. Rep. David Willis, a Union County Republican and co-sponsor of the proposal, told committee members that including electrocution and death by firing squad as execution methods would give death row inmates options beyond the cocktail of drugs used for lethal injections in many states.

North Carolina has had a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 2006, amid numerous legal challenges to the humaneness and fairness of the death penalty.

Rep. Laura Budd, a Mecklenburg County Democrat, asked Willis whether his bill is an effort to lift the de facto moratorium. “Absolutely,” Willis responded.

“At the same time that the Senate is recommending cutting the Innocence Commission entirely?” Budd asked. In 19 years, the state agency has exonerated 16 people.

Willis responded that he has no control over what the Senate puts in its budget regarding the commission. The House is expected to release its two-year budget proposal within the next month or two. It’s unclear whether that spending plan will include funding for the Innocence Inquiry Commission.

“I just want to say that once you take a person’s life, it’s gone,” Budd said. “So my heart goes out to those families who have lost someone and are watching the appeals go on and on in the justice system and they would like some closure. …But if we make a mistake and we take another person’s life, then twice we have committed a wrong.”

Representatives from the North Carolina Council of Churches, an organization that supports abolishing the death penalty, and Democracy Out Loud, a group that advocates for “fair and peaceful democracy,” spoke out against the bill.

“Electrocutions are gruesome,” said Rev. Jennifer Copeland, executive director of the Council of Churches. “Prisoners catch fire, cook from the inside. There’s a smell of burning human flesh and possibly even jolting a conscious person multiple times to bring about their death.”

— Anne Blythe

---

Circling back: Last week we published a story about the showdown among the Mecklenburg County Democrats. For those of you following, Wesley Harris was elected to be the new chair, besting Drew Kromer. Read the full story.

---

Elon Poll: Americans Concerned About Constitutional Crisis

Three months into President Donald Trump’s second administration, Americans across the political spectrum say they’re concerned about a constitutional crisis, according to the latest Elon University Poll.

The poll showed two-thirds of respondents (67 percent) are very or somewhat concerned that the executive and judicial branches may reach a point where neither side will back down, creating a crisis over who has the final say on an issue. Among Democrats, 88 percent said they were concerned about a constitutional crisis. That number was 61% among independents and 51 percent among Republicans.

— Joe Killian

---

Around the Hill

Better Call Roy?: Democrats are pinning their 2026 Senate hopes on candidates who may not even run. Roy Cooper, who is believed to be their best bet against incumbent Republican Thom Tillis, has yet to say whether he’ll enter the race. Read the full story.

Research Insecurity: UNC-Chapel Hill’s National Security Center, which researches threats like mass shootings and natural disasters, has had its funding cut by the Department of Homeland Security. Read the full story.

Food Stamps Filleted: As Republicans focus on paring back government programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program may be on the cutting board. Two Wake County state representatives are calling on their federal counterparts to oppose the cuts. Read the full story.

Foushee Takes the Stage: In a town hall last week, Rep. Valerie Foushee fielded questions from constituents about the Food and Drug Administration, the future of science, and Congressional inaction. And she did so without being booed out of the building, a feat which has evaded Rep. Chuck Edwards among others. Read the full story.

— Grace McFadden

---

Too Late Now to Say Sorry for This: During a bill debate, Republican state Rep. Mike Schietzelt of Wake County said, “Justin Bieber is not the treasurer of North Carolina.”

I felt the need to fact-check this by reaching out to Treasurer Brad Briner.

The response from his office: “never say never,” alluding to one of the pop star’s many mediocre-at-best songs.

— Bryan Anderson

Let us know what’s on your radar at politics@theassemblync.com.

---