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Good morning and welcome to your Under the Dome politics newsletter. I’m Capitol bureau chief Dawn Vaughan, and this edition focuses on the governor.
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So much of the job of being North Carolina’s governor is tied to what happens at the General Assembly. For the past several years, the Old North State has had a divided government, with a Democrat in the Executive Mansion and Republicans controlling the Legislative Building a block away in downtown Raleigh.
The governor is the last stop — most of the time — before a bill becomes a law. There are a few exceptions for legislation that can bypass the governor — maps, constitutional amendments and local bills — and the General Assembly can also overturn a veto if they have enough votes.
Let’s talk about those votes, and this calendar year.
Because North Carolina is such a politically purple state, elections and laws can be decided by thin margins. The Senate has a Republican supermajority, so if their caucus votes the same way, they can easily override a veto from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. But overturning one is a little more complicated because of the makeup of the House.
House Democrats broke the Republican supermajority in that chamber in the 2024 election, but with the smallest margin: one seat. House Republicans have a majority, and are just one vote short of a supermajority, meaning they needed a Democrat to work with them to override a veto. And some did.
And then two House Democrats lost their primaries and changed their party status to unaffiliated, complicating things further. House Republicans’ power to override lies with swing vote Democrats and two unaffiliated representatives, Reps. Carla Cunningham and Nasif Majeed, both of the Charlotte area.
All 170 lawmakers are on ballots in November, and their current terms don’t end until Dec. 31.
The Senate was back briefly this past week and is likely gone until a planned voting session in November.
The House is back briefly this coming week, and then also is expected to leave until November.
Lawmakers’ adjournment resolution has them returning mid-November, after the election. Some Republicans are worried they will lose ground in the election, shifting power toward Democrats.
If House and Senate Democrats gain seats, control of the General Assembly would shift after the newly elected lawmakers take office in January. So in that November session, and another planned for December, Republicans may wield the power they have, while they still have it. Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters this past week that outstanding veto override votes could wait until November. Lawmakers could pass new legislation, too, before the 2027 session begins. And they could override any new Stein vetoes, if they have the votes.
Speaking of vetoes, next up is a dispatch from my politics team colleague Esther Frances, who covers the legislature and lobbying.
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North Carolina senators on Tuesday advanced a sweeping elections bill that would reduce early voting days for primary elections from 17 days to 10 days, among other provisions.
Since then, advocacy groups have called on Stein to veto the bill when it hits his desk, including Democracy NC.
Democracy NC called the bill a “complex, convoluted, wide-ranging legislation” that “creates confusion, undermines trust in the process, and ultimately makes it harder for North Carolinians to cast their ballots and have their voices heard.”
The organization listed several provisions in the bill, including a process to remove people from voter rolls if they are identified as deceased through federal databases and requiring the Division of Motor Vehicles to provide full Social Security numbers of voters to the State Board of Elections.
The National Black Leadership Caucus Southeastern Region, in an emailed statement, said the bill “proposes a vast swath of changes to how elections are run in our state.”
The organization noted that the bill also allows the state auditor to conduct audits by county after an election, with “discretion over how many audits they conduct, so, theoretically, an audit could occur in every race, in every county across the state.”
“Tell Governor Stein to VETO this harmful mega elections bill and instead advocate for policies that make our elections MORE accessible,” the statement said.
In June, as the elections bill moved through legislature, Stein said in a statement that it “harms election administration.”
Berger after the vote on Tuesday said the “bills were good bills as far as the election process is concerned.”
— Esther Frances
Catch up on more of our politics coverage:
Thanks for reading. Be sure to listen to our Under the Dome podcast. I host new episodes on Tuesdays. You can also watch our podcast recordings on YouTube. On our latest episode, I was joined by politics intern Ronni Butts and legislative and lobbying reporter Esther Frances.
Reach me at [email protected] or the entire politics team at [email protected].
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