Republicans in the North Carolina state Senate on Monday overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a bill that is a blatant attempt to steal power from Democrats and give it to the GOP-controlled Legislature.
Republicans crafted the bill in secret, held no hearings on it, and passed it in November, less than 24 hours after it had been made public. The vote came after Democrats won the governor's mansion and attorney general position in the state for the third cycle in a row, as well as the race for state superintendent of public instruction.
Republicans claimed the bill was about Hurricane Helene recovery funding, but it contains very little of that. Instead, it takes away power from those three incoming Democratic statewide officials.
The bill removes the governor’s ability to appoint members of the State Board of Elections and requires that a governor fill judicial vacancies with judges recommended by the party the outgoing judge belonged to. It also takes control of the state Utilities Commission from the governor and tries to hamstring the state attorney general from pursuing cases that are “contrary to or inconsistent with the position of the General Assembly.” Additionally, it blocks incoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green from appealing decisions from the N.C. Charter School Review Board.
“This legislation is a sham,” Cooper said in a statement explaining why he vetoed the legislation. “It does not send money to Western North Carolina but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh. This legislation was titled disaster relief but instead violates the constitution by taking appointments away from the next Governor for the Board of Elections, Utilities Commission and Commander of the NC Highway Patrol, letting political parties choose appellate judges and interfering with the Attorney General’s ability to advocate for lower electric bills for consumers.”
The state House—where Republicans are set to lose their veto-proof gerrymandered majority next year when the new lawmakers who won in November are sworn in—must now also override the veto. The Legislature has overridden all 11 of Coopers' other vetoes, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.
North Carolina is not the only state where Republican legislators have tried to take power away from their states’ Democratic governor.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers
Earlier this year, Wisconsin Republicans tried to strip Democratic Gov. Tony Evers of his power to spend federal dollars by putting a measure on the August primary ballot that would have amended the state Constitution to require Legislative approval for federal funds. Voters rejected the effort in a 57.5%-42.5% vote.
In 2018, after Republicans lost the gubernatorial mansion in Wisconsin, Republicans stripped power from Evers and incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul before they took office. The legislation took away Evers’ ability to remove work requirements for food stamps and health care, and tried to block Kaul’s ability to withdraw the state from a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act.
“It’s a power grab,” Democratic state Senator Jon Erpenbach told The New York Times at the time. “They lost and they’re throwing a fit.”
Republicans straight-up admitted the legislation was an effort to hamstring Evers’ ability to pass his agenda.
“We are going to have a very liberal governor who is going to enact policies that are in direct contrast to what many of us believe in,” state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said at the time of what would happen if the power grab legislation didn’t pass. Of course, by limiting the governor from enacting policies, it would be ignoring voters’ will in choosing their top state executive.
That power grab was eventually overturned by the courts.
That same year, Michigan Republicans tried to strip power from then-incoming Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but failed when the outgoing GOP governor vetoed the effort.
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