RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Republicans narrowly missed a veto-proof supermajority in the legislature Tuesday but gained control of the Supreme Court, something political experts say will have long-lasting implications.
Republican Trey Allen, general counsel for the state court system and Republican Court of Appeals Judge Richard Dietz won two seats on the state Supreme Court. Their election means the court will have five Republicans and two Democrats. It's the first time Republicans have been the majority on the court since 2016.
Elon University Associate Professor of Political Science Jason Husser said this was on the biggest policy implications on Tuesday night.
"What that means is when there are controversies, usually originating in the legislature around issues like education, abortion, voting rights, they will eventually make it to the state Supreme Court in some capacity or another, and the court is more likely to favor the Republican party," Husser said.
Dr. Denise Nation, professor of justice studies and the chair of history, politics and social justice at Winston-Salem State University said this change could have implications for the next decade.
"I think this is a win for the conservatives. Obviously, this is a win for Republicans," said Nation. "I think they are thinking that some of their agenda items that they have been pushing for the last four years or so, they can get some of these things accomplished."
Missed Supermajority
Republicans gained the two Senate seats needed Tuesday to have a supermajority but failed to get enough seats in the House of Representatives, by one seat.
Republicans in the General Assembly have held the majority since 2018. However, in order for the legislature to override a Governor's veto, they need a veto-proof supermajority, which is three-fifths or 60% of the total General Assembly.
Nation said while there were Republican gains, she doesn't see this changing the legislatures relationship with Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
"They don’t have veto proof now," said Nation. "If it was veto proof that’s a totally different story so I think the status quo continues. I mean the Republicans already dominate politics (in North Carolina)."
However, Husser said there could be instances where a veto-proof supermajority vote is achieved to override a veto.
"There are Democrats who have broken with Cooper regularly and voted with Republicans. We will likely see some of that, not in every piece of legislation put on some pieces of legislation. We could even have the potential of (a) Democrat chang(ing) party, and the Republicans would have the supermajority," said Husser. "What I think is the most likely outcome though is that on pieces of legislation that are really important to Republicans, they will find one Democrat at least willing to join with them and that Democrat will have a tremendous amount of influence at the state level."
These changes in the legislature, Husser said, may put Republicans at an advantage in 2024 because they would have more incumbents in office.