GOP lawmakers in North Carolina override their veto of a bill that would strip power from new Democratic officials

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina voted to override the governor’s veto of a bill that strips key powers from the state’s new Democratic officials.

The state’s GOP-led House of Representatives voted along party lines Wednesday to override outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill ostensibly aimed at hurricane relief but also weakening the authority of statewide offices that Democrats won in last month’s election, including governor and attorney general .

The Republican-controlled state Senate voted last week to override Cooper’s veto, meaning the bill will now take effect, although legal challenges are expected. Democrats have accused Republicans of making this move after the 2024 elections and before the new year, when the party is on track to lose its legislative supermajority.

“Small businesses and communities in Western North Carolina are still waiting for support from the Legislature as Republicans prioritize political power,” Cooper said in a statement. “Shameful.”

Specifically, the measure shifts the authority to appoint members to the North Carolina Board of Elections from the office of governor, which will be held next year by Democrat Josh Stein, to the office of comptroller, which will be held by Republican Dave Boliek, after he replaces the incumbent Democrat Jessica Holmes defeated.

Republicans in the North Carolina Legislature have been trying for years to gain control of the board that oversees elections in the battleground state, but their efforts have been thwarted by the courts. Democrats currently hold a 3-2 edge on the board.

Three House Republicans from western North Carolina who voted against the bill originally supported overriding the veto on Wednesday, giving the party the three-fifths majority needed in the House to overrule Cooper.

One of those Republicans, Rep. Mark Pless, said in an interview before Wednesday’s vote that he was disappointed that the bill did not provide enough funding to help his constituents rebuild their communities after Hurricane Helene.

“I want my people in the mountains to be taken care of,” he told NBC News before the vote. “I just don’t think it does what we were told.”

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., urged Republican lawmakers to override Cooper’s veto in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon in Washington.

“I understand that there are provisions there that have to do with … a legitimate disagreement about the scope and role of the executive branch,” Tillis said. “But this is not the time for us to think about whether we should be sending every possible signal to the people of North Carolina that help is on the way.”

The 131-page bill transfers $227 million to a hurricane relief fund while advancing a number of other Republican priorities, including shortening the time voters have to fix ballot errors and requiring counties to count ballots more quickly .

The legislation will also prohibit the attorney general from taking legal positions that conflict with those of the legislature.

This will prevent new Democratic Attorney General Jeff from refusing to defend laws passed by the Legislature, as Stein did with the state’s abortion law last year when he held the office.

The measure was written behind closed doors, introduced as a committee substitute that precluded committee changes, and passed both Republican-controlled legislative chambers in just two days in November.

“The bill, to be clear, is a power grab, not disaster relief,” Stein said at a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association in California last weekend. “It’s petty and wrong.”

In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison called the move “wrong, disgusting and emblematic of the Republican Party – desperate attempts to consolidate power at any cost rather than trying to improve the lives of North Carolinians.” “.