McCrory raising money for legal expense fund to support battle over election...
The gubernatorial race is still up in the air, but Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign committee isn’t planning on going down without a legal fight. The committee disclosed plans for a legal expense fund...
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Top House Republican on rumors of GOP court-packing: “Take a chill pill”
N.C. Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union As Policy Watch, and numerous other outlets, have reported in recent days, Raleigh is awash these days with rumors that Republican leadership in the N.C. General Assembly...
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McCrory: High maintenance trouble from start to finish
Pat McCrory is starting to resemble that proverbial house guest who you semi-reluctantly invite to spend a night or two and then find yourself unable to evict from your spare bedroom: he takes up...
View ArticlePotential GOP scheme to steal the governor’s race coming into focus
It would have seemed inconceivable last week when Election Night ended with Roy Cooper 5,000 or so votes ahead in the race for Governor and celebrating victory with his supporters. Now, however, 10...
View ArticleCooper team touts growing lead as McCrory challenges rejected
Gov. Pat McCrory continued to fall further behind Attorney Gen. Roy Cooper in the ongoing gubernatorial race Friday as county elections boards across the state rejected McCrory’s various election...
View ArticleGovernment watchdog: McCrory wrongfully casting doubt on legitimacy of the...
The nonpartisan, good government advocates at Democracy North Carolina (i.e. the people who helped bring down former Democratic House Speaker Jim Black) have launched a petition drive to urge Gov. Pat...
View ArticlePat McCrory filing for a recount of governor’s race
In a move political pundits expected, Gov. Pat McCrory has called for a recount of the gubernatorial race. His campaign released the following: To protect the voters of North Carolina, Governor Pat...
View ArticleEditorial: McCrory campaign the biggest threat to election integrity
Pat McCrory’s hometown newspaper is out with its latest scathing take on the actions of the man it once endorsed for governor. As the Charlotte Observer notes this morning, if there’s are threats to...
View ArticleState Board of elections could meet this week on Durham appeal
The N.C. State Board of Elections held an emergency teleconference meeting Sunday to consider Gov. Pat McCrory’s request that they look into thousands of Durham county ballots his campaign is...
View ArticleThe last time the N.C. legislature decided a contested race…
If you’re confused about what’s going on in the never-ending race for governor in North Carolina, you’re in good company. If you’re worried that the race, one of the most hotly contested in the...
View ArticleState Board of Elections instructs local boards to dismiss McCrory protests...
The State Board of Elections has instructed all local boards to dismiss all protests filed by Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign “that merely disputes the eligibility of a voter.” The announcement was made...
View ArticleGovernor blocks state elections board from hiring outside counsel in election...
In the midst of a controversial challenge to his loss in the Nov. 8 election, Gov. Pat McCrory has rejected a request from State Board of Elections to hire outside counsel in a lawsuit related to the...
View ArticleEditorial: McCrory disrespects democracy, tarnishes his own legacy with...
Be sure to check out this morning’s lead editorial in the Governor’s hometown newspaper — the newspaper that once was one of the strongest backers of his long political career. It’s not a pretty...
View ArticleMcCrory moving forward with special legislative session to address Hurricane...
Gov. Pat McCrory announced Wednesday that he plans to submit proposals regarding Hurricane Matthew relief to the General Assembly to be addressed in a special session. He said in a news release that...
View ArticleState Board of Elections orders partial recount in Durham
The State Board of elections Wednesday ordered a partial recount of ballots cast in Durham County in the Nov. 8 election. The board voted 3-2 along party lines to recount more than 90,000 votes...
View ArticleThe gubernatorial race that would not die: A primer
More than three weeks after election day, the N.C. gubernatorial race is still not officially over. Like a great, lumbering beast full of spears it just trudges painfully on, refusing to fall. The...
View ArticleGOP election official not wild about being smeared by GOP
One of the most surreal parts about covering Wednesday’s meeting of the State Board of Elections was watching the board order, in a 3-2 party-line vote, a partial recount in Durham despite the board’s...
View ArticleGov. McCrory concedes election in video message
After nearly a month of contesting the results of the Nov. 8 election, Gov. Pat McCrory conceded to Attorney General Roy Cooper in a video message Monday. The concession begins at about the 38 second...
View ArticleCivitas withdraws request to halt election count, moves forward with federal...
The Civitas Institute has withdrawn its request to halt an official election count until same-day registration votes went through a mail verification process. “Our decision to drop the request for the...
View ArticleReports: Pat McCrory to meet with Donald Trump Wednesday
Outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory will meet Wednesday in New York with President-elect Donald Trump, only 48 hours after conceding the gubernatorial election to Roy Cooper. Trump transition aide Sean Spicer...
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Trump transition team notes McCrory’s experience with ‘education, job...
Gov. Pat McCrory Gov. Pat McCrory arrived at the Trump Tower in New York City just after 10 a.m. today to meet with President-elect Donald Trump. In press briefing shortly after, Trump’s transition...
View ArticleGubernatorial race post-mortems
The N.C. gubernatorial race finally came to an end this week – and the speculation as to how Pat McCrory became the only incumbent governor in the state to lose a re-election bid has been swirling ever...
View ArticleState health plan to cover gender transition treatment, surgery
Starting next year, the health plan for teachers and other state employees will offer coverage of medically necessary treatment and surgery related to gender transition. The incoming state treasurer,...
View ArticleCouncil of State members urge McCrory to keep special session to recovery topic
Council of State members are urging Gov. Pat McCrory to limit the purposes a special legislative session next week to aiding the recovery from the Hurricane Matthew and the western North Carolina...
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McCrory to ask for $200 million in special session for emergency relief
Gov. Pat McCrory will request approximately $200 million in tomorrow’s special legislative session to help affected North Carolinians recover from Hurricane Matthew and wildfires, but it hasn’t been...
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Young lawyer employed by N.C. House Speaker appointed district court judge
While the N.C. General Assembly was beginning its special session Monday, Gov. Pat McCrory announced a surprise appointment: Justin Brackett, a 29-year-old lawyer who passed the bar in 2012, works for...
View ArticleSpecial Session Day 2: Surprises! Another Special Session
Well, the first day of the North Carolina General Assembly’s special session passed without many surprises. But day two…not so much. The General Assembly will adjourn this session after passing the...
View ArticleSenate bill seeks to create new bipartisan Board of Elections agency, restore...
A bill filed by Senate Republicans on Wednesday night would take away the political advantage of having Governor-elect Roy Cooper appoint positions to the State Board of Elections by creating a new,...
View ArticleGeneral Assembly moves to dramatically limit new governor’s powers
The North Carolina General Assembly’s GOP majority moved to dramatically limit the powers of the governor’s office Wednesday as Democratic Governor-Elect Roy Cooper prepares to take office next month....
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Pat McCrory’s last chance to do the right thing
Gov. Pat McCrory As the North Carolina General Assembly hurtles forward with its stunning power play to seize numerous duties that Gov.-elect Cooper is scheduled to assume January 1, it’s increasingly...
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McCrory signs Senate Bill 4 in less than an hour; appoints chief of staff’s...
Gov. Pat McCrory Well, that was fast. Less than an hour after Senate Bill 4 made it back to the Senate after it was passed in the House, Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law and then recommended his...
View ArticleMcCrory has still not signed one major bill from last week’s special session
For what it’s worth — and it may not be much — Gov. Pat McCrory has still not signed House Bill 17 from last week’s special session. This is the bill, you will recall, that makes a host of changes...
View ArticleDid Gov. McCrory battle court packing scheme, or was it a media myth?
In a press release late Monday Gov. Pat McCrory said he would sign N.C. House Bill 17 – the bill that strips incoming governor Roy Cooper of a number of powers and appointments McCrory enjoyed while in...
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After governor signs controversial bill, State Board of Education chair...
State Board of Education Chair Bill Cobey Minutes after Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday signed a controversial bill mandating stiff new limits on the powers of Gov.-elect Roy Cooper and the State Board of...
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Peevish, petulant and petty to the end: McCrory puts an exclamation point on...
There was just a smidgen of hope this week in good government circles that Gov. Pat McCrory would summon up a shred of courage and class and do what’s right by vetoing House Bill 17 from last week’s...
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State Board of Education talks possible lawsuit over legislative limits to...
State Board of Education Chair Bill Cobey Calling House Bill 17 an attempt to “diminish the board’s constitutional authority,” State Board of Education Chairman Bill Cobey and the members of the...
View ArticleNY Times columnist blasts McCrory’s behavior as emblematic of troubling...
If you get a chance, be sure to check out New York Times columnist David Leonhardt’s column from this morning comparing the post-election responses of President Obama and our own Governor Pat McCrory....
View ArticleNC Court of Appeals: Gov. Pat McCrory not immune from open records lawsuit
Gov. Pat McCrory will not be immune from an open records lawsuit in trial court, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. In the opinion, Judge Linda Stevens wrote that McCrory’s attorney...
View ArticleTwo transgender perspectives on potential repeal of HB2
With the repeal of HB2 likely to come in tomorrow’s special legislative session, there has been some controversy over the Charlotte City Council’s repeal of the LGBT protections in its original...
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State Board of Education, in midst of legislative battle for power, to meet...
State Board of Education Chair Bill Cobey Little emerged from Tuesday’s special session of the State Board of Education, save for this: Chairman Bill Cobey says the board will meet at least once more...
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Reader questions on failed HB2 repeal
Since Wednesday’s failure to pass a repeal of HB2 in a hastily arranged extra session of the North Carolina General Assembly, we’ve gotten a number of questions from readers via e-mail, Facebook and...
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PhD candidate tells story of voter fraud accusation in NC governor’s race
Brooks Sterritt found out he was accused of voter fraud in the most recent election via a Google Alert. The PhD candidate in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago wrote about...
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Legislators in surprise special session considered provision to give McCrory...
The News and Observer reported on Christmas Day that legislation drafted but not enacted at a recent surprise special session would have kept outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory on the State Health Plan after he...
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10 environmental fiascos that broke the FUBAR meter this year
Environmental reporting in 2016 was like shooting two-headed fish in a toxic waste barrel: It’s tough to miss. With just three days left in the year, this is an occasion for the airing of environmental...
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Pat McCrory: Overmatched and confused to the end, lets loose last broadsides
There are, thankfully, less than 48 hours left in the governorship of Pat McCrory, but as has been his wont from the start, the soon-to-be-ex-Guv let loose another barrage of inane and blame-shifting...
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DHHS Deputy Sec’y Randall Williams, involved in coal ash controversy,...
Randall Williams, deputy DHHS secretary, headed to state’s oil and gas commission. (Photo: DHHS) Now here’s a career move: Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Randall Williams, a...
View ArticlePolitifact NC’s Top 10 fact-checks of 2016
It was a long, strange year – particularly for North Carolina politics. If you want to masochistically wander down memory lane, head over to Politifact NC to check out their Top 10 political fact...
View ArticleEnvironmental Management Commission Chairman Steve Rowlan resigning
Steve Rowlan, chairman of the Environmental Management Commission for the past year, is resigning and moving to Utah. He announced his resignation via email to his fellow EMC members Monday. Rowlan was...
View ArticleReport, editorial: McCrory’s economic development partnership has been a failure
Be sure to check out this morning’s Capitol Broadcasting Company editorial on WRAL.com. In it, the authors shine a light on a new report from the General Assembly’s Program Evaluation Division showing...
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NC passes a grim anniversary for the state’s workers
Eight years ago this week, then Governor Pat McCrory signed a bill that overhauled our state’s unemployment insurance system. And so began our state’s fall to the bottom of the national pack when it...
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