Election board shift set for today. Stein says it may help GOP ‘steal' Supreme Court seat

Yahoo

01-05-2025

Good morning and welcome to Under the Dome. I'm Caitlyn Yaede.
Up first, a dispatch from Kyle Ingram, on the major shift in power over elections that is suddenly set to happen today.
After the North Carolina Court of Appeals cleared the way for Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek to take election powers from Gov. Josh Stein, the Democratic governor warned that the takeover could have steep implications for Jefferson Griffin's ongoing attempt to overturn his loss in the 2024 state Supreme Court race.
'I fear that this decision is the latest step in the partisan effort to steal a seat on the Supreme Court,' he said. 'No emergency exists that can justify the Court of Appeals' decision to interject itself at this point. The only plausible explanation is to permit the Republican State Auditor to appoint a new State Board of Elections that will try to overturn the results of the Supreme Court race.'
The appeals court's decision, unless the state Supreme Court blocks it before Thursday, will allow Boliek to immediately replace all five members of the State Board of Elections and flip the 3-2 majority in Republicans' favor for the first time since 2017.
'The actions of the current board majority placed partisanship and politics over performance,' the state Republican Party said in a statement. 'Under Auditor Boliek, North Carolinians will have confidence our votes are counted with accuracy, consistency, and integrity.'
That shift could prove decisive in the ongoing battle over the 2024 election results if a court ultimately returns the decision to the board.
Currently, the case rests with U.S. Chief District Judge Richard E. Myers, who has given Griffin and his opponent, Democratic incumbent Justice Allison Riggs, until Friday to submit final materials in the proceedings.
— Kyle Ingram
The Divine 9 — the nine historic Black sororities and fraternities — held their annual Legislative Day on Wednesday, spending the morning on Bicentennial Plaza across the street from the Legislative Building in downtown Raleigh.
Speakers included Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson, Sen. Kandie Smith and leaders from the respective Divine 9 organizations. Several speakers noted that the Divine 9 are well-represented in the General Assembly – including by Smith, Rep. Rodney Pierce, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, and keynote speaker Sen. Natalie Murdock, a member of Delta Sigma Theta.
The lobbying day took place as lawmakers consider eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion policies in state agencies and schools.
Pierce spoke to the crowd a few hours before the state House passed the bill banning DEI in government.
'There are a lot of misconceptions about what DEI is, but those of us out here know it is about giving just, fair, equal and equitable opportunities to anybody, regardless of where you live, regardless of how you look, regardless if you have disabilities or not, etc.,' Pierce said.
'And what I can promise you is that we will fight, we will advocate, we will speak up on behalf of those who will benefit and who have benefited from policies like that,' he said.
I'll have more from the group's advocacy day in this Sunday's newsletter focused on the governor.
— Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
An early 2026 contender to challenge Democratic Justice Anita Earls for her seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court has emerged.
Rep. Sarah Stevens, a Surry County Republican and longtime member of the state House, announced her candidacy on social media Wednesday.
'I will be a conservative voice for justice and families on the Supreme Court,' she said in a statement. 'My experience as a family law attorney and a state legislator has prepared me to be a voice for those who cannot advocate for themselves.'
Serving on the Supreme Court would be Stevens' first time as a judge, as it was for Earls when she was elected in 2018.
Stevens currently chairs the House Election Law Committee and a House judiciary committee. She also previously served as House speaker pro tempore.
She's the only Republican so far to announce a campaign to unseat Earls, who will seek her second eight-year term as a justice.
In a statement, North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton railed against Stevens' candidacy.
'It's rich that a career politician who has been complicit with taking away voters' rights, gerrymandering election districts, and starving public education thinks she has the right experience to serve on the state's highest court,' she said. 'The people of North Carolina deserve a Justice who has dedicated their life to securing equal justice under the law for everyone, and that's Anita Earls.'
Earls is the only member of the Supreme Court up for reelection in 2026, but her race could be pivotal in determining the court's future partisan majority.
The Supreme Court currently has a 5-2 Republican majority, the fate of which is still up in the air as Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin continues to challenge his narrow 2024 loss to Democratic incumbent Justice Allison Riggs.
Should Riggs lose the fight to keep her seat, Earls would have to win her 2026 race in order for Democrats to have a chance to retake control of the court in 2028, when three Republican justices are up for reelection.
— Kyle Ingram
Reforming prior authorization in health insurance is a priority for both the House and Senate — but lawmakers in each chamber have different ideas about what that reform should look like.
On Wednesday, the House passed its bill to reform prior authorization — the process insurers use to determine whether care is necessary, appropriate and covered. The bill would, among other things:
Require insurers to meet set deadlines for medical necessity decisions or automatically approve the care. For urgent services, a decision must be made within 24 hours.
Mandate that insurers report how often they require prior authorization, denial rates, decision times, and patient appeal outcomes. Noncompliance could result in fines of $5,000 per day.
Authorize the North Carolina Medical Board to investigate improper denials, including the power to subpoena insurers or third-party reviewers.
Sponsors include Reps. Tim Reeder, an emergency physician at East Carolina University, and Grant Campbell, a practicing physician. Both spoke Jan. 28 at a North Carolina Medical Society conference. Ahead of that event, Reeder and Rep. Donny Lambeth, a former hospital executive, told The News & Observer that a bill to restrict or ban prior authorization was in the works.
The day after the conference, Senate leaders filed a bill tying new health insurance mandates to repealing existing ones, including those involving prior authorization. It passed the Senate but hasn't received a House hearing.
In mid-March, the Senate introduced its own prior authorization reform bill, which passed within two weeks. It would require 24-hour decisions for urgent services, and also aims to improve billing transparency and reduce costs, as previously reported by The N&O.
The House and Senate will need to reconcile their approaches before any reform becomes law.
We've written multiple stories about the rift inside the Senate Democratic caucus this session, as the former minority leader, Sen. Dan Blue, has become the swing vote to watch in his chamber, voting with Republicans on four bills. Catch up on that story from Avi Bajpai and me.
And on Tuesday, I wrote a follow-up story taking an inside look at the dynamics of Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch taking over the role this session. Republicans didn't allow her to have control over all of her caucus' office space, nor the same number of staff allotted to Blue when he left his leadership role. Sen. Bill Rabon, the powerful Rules Committee chair, told me on Tuesday that he has discretion over office space and praised Blue's chief of staff, who was kept on the General Assembly payroll. You can read more about the office drama in my latest story.
— Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
Wayne Goodwin announced in February that he would be stepping down and helping Gov. Josh Stein find a successor to lead the Division of Motor Vehicles.
The search is over, as Stein announced this week that Paul Tine will be the state's new DMV commissioner, starting May 6, Richard Stradling reports.
Tine is a former state legislator and served two terms in the House as a Democrat before joining the Republican House Caucus as an unaffiliated lawmaker in 2015. His time in the General Assembly ended in 2016, and Tine now owns Midgett Insurance Agency in Dare County.
'There is no shortage of challenges facing our division,' Tine said in a statement. He pledged to reduce wait times and improve the DMV's website, among other goals for the division.
Rep. Carla Cunningham of Charlotte has once again sided with Republicans on the topic of immigration, backing the latest bill out of the House bolstering an existing immigration law.
The House voted 70-45, nearly along party lines, with the exception of Cunningham, on Tuesday to approve House Bill 318, which would add a new notification requirement to a law that requires local sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While other Mecklenburg County Democrats were strongly opposed to the measure, Cunningham spoke up against violent crime in the county, saying she expects sheriffs to fulfill their duty.
The bill, introduced by House Speaker Destin Hall, stems from a conflict between Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden and federal immigration authorities.
Avi Bajpai has more on the future of HB 318 and Cunningham's support of another GOP-led immigration bill last year.
Donald van der Vaart, a former NC Department of Environmental Quality secretary who went on to serve as director of the NC Office of Administrative Hearings, will soon take on a new role in state government.
Van der Vaart was appointed by Treasurer Brad Briner to join the NC Utilities Commission — an agency responsible for regulating investor-owned public utilities, like water or electric companies.
He served as DEQ secretary under Gov. Pat McCrory, then later resigned from a different job within DEQ in November 2017 after an investigation into him was launched. The reason was unclear, although WFAE reported at the time that he had published an article that contradicted state policy, as well as taken on a role in a scientific advisory board under Donald Trump during his first presidential term.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson has selected Nick Brod to succeed Ryan Park as North Carolina's solicitor general.
Brod has served as deputy solicitor general since 2022 and will take on the new role today.
He will replace Park, who was appointed solicitor general in 2020 by then-Attorney General Josh Stein. He was later nominated by former President Joe Biden to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, but his nomination drew backlash, notably from Sen. Thom Tillis. His nomination never went to a vote in the Senate.
Republicans in the House are advancing a bill that would allow the state treasury to invest up to 5% of its funds' assets in digital currencies, or cryptocurrency. Introduced by House Speaker Destin Hall, the NC Digital Assets Investments Act passed the chamber Wednesday. While investing in currencies like Bitcoin has drawn skepticism, Gov. Josh Stein has come out in support of a bill like this one. Brian Gordon and Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi have the full story.
Tuesday marked 100 days of Donald Trump's second term as president. The Charlotte Observer compiled 12 stories about how federal cuts have impacted North Carolinians since he took office.
The House is considering a bill that would put new limitations on homeless camps in North Carolina, WRAL's Laura Leslie reports. House Bill 781, according to its primary sponsor, Rep. Brian Biggs, stems from growing populations of unhoused people across the state's cities. The measure would empower local governments to designate spaces for camping and sleeping only if indoor shelters are at capacity, among other new rules about how and when people can camp or sleep in public spaces.
Tom Homan — appointed to serve as 'border czar' under President Donald Trump – called on Mecklenburg County to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an interview with WSOCTV's Joe Bruno this week. This call comes as county Sheriff Garry McFadden is at odds with federal immigration authorities over whether he should have to notify ICE before releasing people subject to detainers.
Today's newsletter was by Caitlyn Yaede, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi and Kyle Ingram. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol.
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