Districts Democrats could win
The past week has reinforced the need for an independent redistricting commission in the state. If the disruption to our elections for the third decade in a row was not enough, Republicans' arrogance and cavalier approach toward the process is. The GOP clearly put...
Ch-ch-ch-changes
The election cycle in North Carolina keeps evolving. Yesterday, the legislature moved the Congressional primaries to June 7 with a new filing period from March 16 to March 25. The House has proposed eliminating runoff elections for any elections this year. And a...
New maps, new thoughts
Well, the legislature drew new Congressional maps. It’s a lot to take in but I'll give you my initial thoughts. First, they look a lot nicer than the old maps or any maps we’ve seen in a long time. They are more compact and split far fewer counties and precincts....
Rigged and broken
Anybody wondering why the public has so little faith in the the political system today should be reading the headlines in North Carolina newspapers this week—or following #NCPOL on twitter. For the third decade in a row, politicians are redrawing unconstitutional...
Run over by the Carolina Comeback
Governor Pat McCrory has been touting his Carolina Comeback for about two years. John Locke Foundation President John Hood and House Rules Chair David Lewis have been bragging about all of the taxes North Carolinians didn’t pay. To hear conservatives tell it, North...
Overreach
Republicans really don’t seem to understand overreach or the political environment. Voters are angry right now because they believe government is broken. They want Congress to make it work again and they want the members to do their jobs. Failing to hold hearings on a...
Largely undefined
If you spend much time on Facebook and twitter, you probably assume that the whole country is watching what’s happening in the presidential contests. The Sanders and Clinton camps are hurling insults and accusations. Donald Trump is teeing up his next insult while the...
Revolution or incrementalism?
This presidential primary season is one of the most interesting in my lifetime. On the Republican side we’ve got a showman leading a pack of mostly qualified, if underwhelming, contenders. On the Democratic side the coronation of a former First Lady has been derailed...
The ghosts of elections past
North Carolina’s redistricting predicament is nothing new. Our districts have been in turmoil for most of the past three decades and primary election cycles have been disrupted numerous times. The courts seem to have little sympathy for election schedules, regardless...
What Wayne really said
Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwin found himself in a firestorm last week after the News & Observer ran an article with the misleading headline “NC Insurance Commissioner blames ACA for industry woes.” The headline is misleading because Goodwin doesn’t blame...
