NC Republicans are struggling to get enough votes to pass huge new power grab: report

North Carolina Republicans are trying to strip powers from the incoming Democratic state officials that voters just elected, over outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper's veto. But while the GOP-backed state Senate overrode the veto, it's not guaranteed they will have the votes to do so in the House, freelance journalist Bryan Anderson reported Friday.

"The #SB382 override isn't a sure thing," Anderson posted to X. "With five days left until the vote, Reps. Clampitt and Pless tell me they're undecided (with Pless appearing to lean no on override). Rep. Gillespie hasn't responded. Kidwell also someone to watch."

The state GOP gained a supermajority in the legislature thanks to the defection of Tricia Cotham, who joined the Republican Party last year and gave them votes to pass a number of things over Cooper's objections, including an abortion ban. This year, however, Democrats retained the governor's mansion with state Attorney General Josh Stein defeating embattled Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, retained the attorney general seat, and won the lieutenant governorship and state superintendent office. The GOP also lost its supermajority.

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Republicans have scrambled to use their final weeks with a supermajority to ram through a bill that, if enacted, would strip a number of executive powers away from the Democrats taking office.

Among other things, SB 382 would shift the power to appoint the state Board of Elections from the governor to the state auditor, who is a Republican; remove the authority of the attorney general to argue cases against the legislature; remove much of the superintendent's oversight of charter schools; eliminate the districts of certain state judges who frequently vote to strike down Republican legislation; and reduce the amount of time voters have to cure defective ballots, which helped carry Democrats over the line in some close races.

The bill also includes some disaster relief for areas devastated by Hurricane Helene, to try to make it more politically popular — but Cooper blisteringly noted in his veto that the bill doesn't even include enough relief in the first place.