The Caucus: You Be the Judge

Donation Doozy

Republican Court of Appeals candidate Michael Byrne is facing pushback from his primary opponent over donations he made several years ago to a number of Democrats, including the incumbent he’s now trying to unseat.

Byrne donated $500 to Democratic Court of Appeals Judge John Arrowood in 2018, according to campaign finance records reviewed by The Assembly. That was the first general election cycle after state lawmakers made Court of Appeals races partisan. Byrne said in an interview that he was unaware at the time that Arrowood was a Democrat.

“As with many other appellate judges, as a Court of Appeals litigator, I made a small contribution to an incumbent judge,” Byrne said. “That does not disqualify me from running against that judge several years later. And anyone who thinks it does either is unfamiliar with appellate litigation or has their own political ax to grind.”

Records show Byrne also gave $1,000 to then-gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper shortly before the 2016 general election and an additional $1,800 ahead of his 2020 reelection campaign. (Byrne said another $550 donation shown in campaign finance records was from someone else with the same name and didn’t come from him.)

Byrne also contributed to the campaigns of Democratic Court of Appeals Judges Lucy Inman and Linda Stephens and state Supreme Court Justice Mark Davis.

Byrne characterized the contributions to Arrowood, Cooper, and other statewide Democratic candidates as the cost of doing business as a private attorney. He noted he also donated to statewide judicial candidates on the GOP side, including eventual Supreme Court Justices Phil Berger Jr. and Richard Dietz and Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin.

Byrne’s GOP primary opponent, Matt Smith, said that donation history still raises questions about Byrne’s loyalty to the Republican Party.

“I have been working very hard for years to ensure we elect Conservative Judges to the Bench; both locally and statewide,” Smith wrote on Facebook. “I have worked polls, spoken at events, put out signs, distributed campaign materials, knocked doors and promoted conservative judges on social media. Apparently, during this same time, my opponent has been financially supporting the Democrat opponents of the conservative judges and justices that I and many of you, have actively championed for.”

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

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Here Before You Know It

Mail-in ballots began making their way to North Carolina voters on Monday, marking the official start of the March 3 primary. 

The State Board of Elections will hold a meeting this morning to weigh in on plans for early voting locations in 12 counties where the local boards couldn’t reach consensus. 

In-person early voting begins on Thursday, February 12 and ends on Saturday, February 28.

Walking In

It’s been nine months since President Donald Trump nominated former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker to be an ambassador-at-large for the Office of International Religious Freedom in the U.S. Department of State. After the confirmation process stalled in the Senate, Walker announced on Thursday he was withdrawing his nomination to take on a different role in the Trump administration.

Walker said he’ll serve as a principal advisor in the Office of International Religious Freedom.

“Religious freedom remains under assault in far too many corners of the world, and I am committed to supporting the Trump administration’s bold efforts to defend this fundamental right,” Walker said in a statement.

On the Basis of Sex

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will not review a North Carolina death penalty case in which a prosecutor admitted years later that he’d removed a potential juror from the pool because she was a woman.

Bryan Christopher Bell and Antwaun Kyral Sims were tried and convicted in the kidnapping, beating, and burning of the 89-year-old aunt of veteran state legislator Leo Daughtry in January 2000. Bell is on death row and Sims is currently serving a life sentence. 

The nation’s highest court forbade gender discrimination in jury selection more than 30 years ago in the case J.E.B. v. Alabama, but legal experts say North Carolina appellate courts have done little to enforce the prohibition. 

— Michael Hewlett

Around the State: A nudist resort in Brunswick County has received approval to expand their campsite. Congratulations? (WWAY 3); Sen. Thom Tillis is vowing to block any possible Federal Reserve nomination from PresidentTrump (The News & Observer); For all the heat the Panthers took for making it to the playoffs with a losing record, they showed they belonged (ESPN); Cary’s mayor sat down to talk about questionable city spending (WUNC).

Upcoming Birthdays: Rep. Maria Cervania on Wednesday, January 14.

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