N. Carolina Democrats Aim to Narrow GOP Legislative Margin

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

N. Carolina Democrats Aim to Narrow GOP Legislative Margin

By GARY D. ROBERTSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C. — Oct 2, 2016, 11:52 AM ET

North Carolina voters who've soured on contentious laws addressing gay rights, voter ID and abortion might muster enough political muscle to replace Republican Gov. Pat McCrory with a Democrat in November. But the GOP lawmakers who approved them almost certainly will keep control of the legislature.

Even ousting the governor who signed them wouldn't necessarily cancel the laws Republicans passed or stop future legislation.

So Democrats in the legislature instead are seeking a smaller prize — narrowing GOP majorities in one or both chambers, so Republicans no longer have the veto-proof margins they've held since 2013. That would allow Roy Cooper, the attorney general seeking to unseat McCrory, to stop legislation he and fellow Democrats find objectionable if he's elected.

Many Republicans hold safe seats, thanks to favorable district lines they drew and a recovering state economy.

But if Democrats win four more seats overall in the 120-member House or five seats in the 50-member Senate, they could sustain Cooper's vetoes on partisan issues, giving them and the new governor bargaining power.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/carolina-democrats-aim-narrow-gop-legislative-margin-42509234

[Persondem]

1. Would be very nice to get some more people with common sense in Raleigh

Their numbers have been very low the last 6 years. Cooper is looking good, but not sure about getting to veto sustaining numbers in either chamber. State districts are gerrymandered all to hell.

K & R