Politics
WUNC: North Carolina legislature starts new session in January with emboldened GOP in charge
An expected "Red Wave" never really materialized for the 2022 midterm elections, at least on a national scale. Democrats retained their U.S. Senate majority and won governorships in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. But in North Carolina, Republican candidates dominated major showdowns, sweeping the six statewide judicial contests, taking a U.S. Senate race and coming within one House seat of an outright super-majority in the 120-seat chamber, where three-fifths of those present are needed to override a veto.
SPECTRUM NEWS: N.C. governor has little wiggle room with legislature in 2023
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper described on Wednesday jobs announcements, an emerging clean energy sector and his ability to block “culture-war, business-killing” laws on social issues from the General Assembly among his administration's accomplishments during 2022. There could be little room for error in his dealings with the legislature in 2023, however, as Republicans moved to the precipice of regaining veto-proof control following last month's elections.