N.C. Appeals Court Judge Lucy Inman is aggressively campaigning for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Inman announced her intentions shortly after being defeated by fellow Court of Appeals Judge Phil Berger Jr. in 2020 for an open seat on the state's highest court. Berger defeated Inman 51% to 49%, a margin of 71,517 votes.
The North Carolina Senate passed a Republican-led tax reform package Wednesday evening in a quick, 36-14 vote that drew eight Democrats to cross the aisle and vote in favor of the bill. House Bill 334 would raise the standard deduction from $21,500 to $25,500 for joint filers, which would take about a quarter of a million of the lowest-income North Carolinians entirely off the tax rolls. It also reduces North Carolina’s flat income tax rate for remaining taxpayers from 5.25% to 4.99%.
A bill that would open disciplinary records of government employees is crawling through the Senate, and employee unions and Democrats are determined to kill it.
A bill sponsored by Democrats in the N.C. House would pump billions of additional dollars into public education over the next few years toward meeting the requirements of a new remedial agreement in the ongoing Leandro lawsuit.
The N.C. Board of Elections voted Friday, May 14, to rehire Karen Brinson Bell as executive director. Board members Tommy Tucker and Stacey “Four” Eggers were the only dissenting votes.
The state House wants Congress to reject proposals for packing the U.S. Supreme Court. The House voted 68-44 Thursday to support a federal “Keep Nine” amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
For weeks after the ballots were counted, supporters of the defeated presidential candidate insisted the election had been stolen. Some alleged a shadowy conspiracy to rig vote-counting machines, throwing out just enough legal votes and manufacturing just enough illegal ones to decide the outcome.
Republican senators have introduced a bill that would require lawmakers to sign off on any deal settling a lawsuit in which the legislature is a party.
Two third-party options could be off the North Carolina ballot unless each gathers enough signatures to petition the State Board of Elections to be added again for future elections.
As N.C. Republicans grappled with how to respond to Sen. Richard Burr’s surprise vote to convict former President Trump, the leading GOP prospects for Burr’s seat in 2022 had starkly different reactions, with sharp differences in tone.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder drew glowing media attention last week as he gave the Weil Lecture on American Citizenship at the UNC School of Law. He vowed a new round of lawsuits challenging whatever form the next round of North Carolina congressional and legislative districts take unless they’re drawn to his satisfaction.
Twelve of 15 members of Congress from North Carolina missed more votes in 2020 than the median absences of their peers. In addition, both Tar Heel state U.S. senators outpaced most other senators for missed votes, a government watchdog reports.
