north carolina

Republicans handed major loss in court over swing state voter lawsuit

Republicans just suffered a significant setback in North Carolina ahead of this fall's midterm elections, where they're hoping to stop Democrats from flipping a crucial U.S. Senate seat.

NBC News reported Monday that a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the North Carolina Republican Party — which alleged roughly 250,000 voters were improperly registered — resulted in the court allowing 73,000 voters to remain on the rolls while presenting identifying information.

Republicans were hoping to have all voters in question removed and their 2024 ballots thrown out after alleging that their voter registrations didn't include the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers or a statement that they had neither document. Democrats countersued on behalf of North Carolina election officials, resulting in Monday's settlement granting extra time to the group of 73,000 voters.

According to NBC News, the North Carolina Board of Elections began updating its database of voter registrations last year, sending letters to roughly 82,000 voters asking them to update their registrations. Approximately 100,000 voters in the Tar Heel State lack identifiers like a driver's license number. Because North Carolina requires voters show ID when voting, the settlement allows for the 73,000 voters in question to present ID when casting their ballots, upon which election officials will update their information on state voter rolls with the information shown on those voters' identifications.

Had those ballots been tossed, it could have potentially changed the outcome of one or more U.S. House elections. According to the Associated Press' vote count, Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) narrowly won his race in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District by roughly 6,300 votes. And the statewide vote count could also prove decisive with Monday's settlement, as President Donald Trump only won North Carolina by 183,000 votes in 2024.

"This latest victory is a win for Americans and yet another blow to the Republicans’ scheme to disenfranchise voters ahead of the midterm elections," Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin said in a statement.

North Carolina voted for Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. However, North Carolina voters also elected Democrat Roy Cooper to the governorship in 2016 and 2020, and elected Democrat Josh Stein as governor in 2024. Cooper is now running for North Carolina's open U.S. Senate seat, where he and former RNC chairman Michael Whatley are favored to win the March 3 primary. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C,.) is retiring from the Senate and not seeking a third term.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

'Out of control': Trump voters in major swing state now blaming him for high prices

The Kansas City Star reports voters of President Donald Trump in North Carolina are widely blaming the president for the economy’s poor performance and this will likely affect Republicans in the midterms.

“Of the 14 participants in the focus group, just three of them approve of [Trump’s] job performance, and 12 of them are more worried about the economy than they were when Trump took office. All of them voted for Trump in 2024,” reports the Star.

The focus group of Trump voters in the Tar Heel State was conducted last week by Engagious, Axios and Sago, as a means of studying swing voters across competitive states in the 2024 election. The Star acknowledged that the sample was not statistically significant, but provides insight into how voters are thinking and feeling as the 2026 midterm election season approaches.

Participants expressed discontent with Trump and his agenda, which includes tariffs and the presence of armed immigration agents in U.S. cities, which one participant described as “out of control.”

Another over in the survey said Trump “hasn’t kept his word,” while another said there is “a disconnect between the average, everyday American people and the president.”

“Interestingly, the group’s participants mirrored concerns that voters had about Joe Biden during his presidency,” reports the Star. “The vast majority of participants were familiar with reports of Trump struggling to stay awake during meetings, and they voiced concerns about his age.

“If [falling asleep] was wrong for other presidents, it’s concerning for him, as well,” one voter said.

While only half of focus group participants could identify U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth or were aware of potentially illegal strikes in the Caribbean Sea, many identified more with issues that directly affect them and their neighbors, like the cost of living.

It’s a lesson the Star notes cost Democrats in 2024. However, Republicans appear to be the ones mainly struggling with the issue with 2026 looming.

“Recent nationwide polls have found that Trump’s approval rating among the Republican base and his own MAGA supporters is slipping as well,” reports the Star, “and more of them are beginning to blame Trump for the ongoing affordability crisis. These numbers are most concerning among those who do not identify as MAGA voters but have voted for Trump and Republicans before — similar to the type of swing voter highlighted in the North Carolina focus group.”

While Trump will not personally be on the ballot in 2026, the Star reports voters appear to be taking their concerns about him and his agenda to the polls, much like they did with Biden in 2024.

“And as much as Trump has tried to contrast himself with or shift blame to Biden, voters are unhappy with him for much of the same reasons,” the Star reported.

Read the Kansas City Star report at this link.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

GOP senator working 'behind the scenes' to block Trump’s religious freedom nominee: report

One of President Donald Trump's appointees has been prevented from even having a confirmation hearing as a result of one Senate Republican's efforts.

NBC News reported Monday that former Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) is still awaiting a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee more than eight months after Trump officially announced his nomination as United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who defeated Walker in a bitter Republican primary in 2022, is reportedly to blame for the delay, with NBC reporting that Budd has been working "behind the scenes" to derail Walker's hopes of confirmation.

According to the outlet, both the White House and two other Republican sources have confirmed that Budd is obstructing Walker's confirmation, though Trump has yet to publicly call out North Carolina's junior U.S. senator. Walker's supporters are reportedly "furious" at Budd over his hold, per NBC's sources.

"No one has more support from Cabinet members, from senators, from House members, from top leaders of faith than this nomination. Yet, for some reason, he’s not been able to get a hearing, while other people have been nominated, even as late as summer, early fall, and are already in their positions," one Republican anonymously confided to NBC.

"So who’s stopping the nomination?" The GOP source continued. "Who is it that is preventing this ambassador position to get out there and advocate on behalf of the thousands of Christians and other religious minorities being persecuted, targeted and even killed? Why is one person playing politics on all this?"

Budd has not yet publicly acknowledged the reports or given a reason for opposing his confirmation. His spokesperson, Christian McMullen, would only say that Budd was unable to place an official hold on Walker's nomination given that only committee members can do so.

"Sen. Budd is not a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but if Mark Walker’s nomination advances to the floor, Sen. Budd would vote in favor of his nomination," McMullen said.

Presidential nominations only last until the Senate adjourns at the end of each year. This means that if Trump wants Walker for the role, he'll have to renominate him in January if he isn't confirmed by the end of the month.

Click here to read NBC's full report.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

'I just think he's full of it': Swing state Trump voters now turning on him

President Donald Trump continues to receive bad news about his support from voters, with a Friday report from Axios revealing some 2024 supporters in a key swing state now think "he's full of it" and have some familiar complaints about his leadership.

North Carolina is a state Trump won in all three of his presidential races, and one that has only gone for a Democratic nominee twice in the last 50 years. though it has also elected Democratic governors in all three of the past presidential election cycles, giving it a reputation as a potential swing state.

In a report from Friday, Axios viewed the results of surveys conducted with 14 North Carolina voters who chose Joe Biden in 2020, but switched to Trump in 2024. Of these respondents, 11 said that they now disapprove of his performance as president, while 12 of them said that the economy is worse now than when Trump took office. The survey pool includes 11 independents, two Democrats and one Republican.

When pressed about Trump's handling of affordability, the respondents were largely not buying his claims that the economy is surging and the cost-of-living crisis is a Democratic "hoax" against him.

"I just think he's full of it, and he's always blaming Biden for everything instead of taking responsibility for what he's done," Karen L., a 61-year-old independent from Wilmington, said.

"Gas is more expensive, groceries are more expensive," another independent, 54-year-old Stephen J. of Cornelius, added. "But then you have to factor in, you know, this is someone who is chauffeured. This is someone who's shopped for. So I think that there's a disconnect between the average, everyday American people and the president."

Some of the complaints that emerged in the surveys echoed similar ones made against former President Biden during his time in office. Rich Thau, president of Engagious, the firm that ran the surveys, said he felt a sense of "déjà vu" from the results they received.

"The same complaints swing voters voiced about Biden — about inflation's toll, and his physical decline — mirror what many are now saying about Trump," Thau explained.

Out of the 14 respondents, 11 said they had heard stories of Trump falling asleep during meetings, with independent Erica M. of Wilmington expressing similar concerns about Trump's true physical health being hidden from the public as were expressed about Biden.

"I would just say he is too old. I mean, same thing with Biden," David D., 61-year-old independent from Waxhaw, said. "I don't know if it's any huge medical issue. I mean, you get to be 80 — this is not — CEOs aren't 80 for most companies. He just needs more sleep."

"It's not that him falling asleep is out of the ordinary given his age," Evan D., a 31-year-old independent from Charlotte, added. "But it is the most important job you could have in the country, so you probably shouldn't be falling asleep."

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

GOP official tied to voting scandal now overseeing 'election integrity' in key swing state

Republicans in one pivotal swing state have now put a man in charge of overseeing "election integrity" efforts, despite his connection to two separate scandals involving public corruption and election fraud.

Politico reported Friday that former North Carolina Republican Party executive director Dallas Woodhouse has been named the state's new "election liaison," allowing him to have authority over local and state election officials. Woodhouse's new role was made possible thanks to a law the Tar Heel State's Republican-dominated legislature passed that transferred authority over elections from Gov. Josh Stein, who is a Democrat, to state auditor Dave Boliek, who is a Republican.

Stein has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of that law. However, the state's supreme court has ruled that Boliek's appointments of election officials are allowed to stand while the governor's lawsuit plays out.

A spokesperson for Boliek's office said Woodhouse would be working "to ensure election integrity while encouraging maximum participation in elections." Boliek said in a letter to local election officials that Woodhouse would be "my eyes and ears in the ground" in upcoming elections.

Woodhouse is considered a somewhat controversial figure in North Carolina politics, as he was the head of the state's Republican Party at the time of an election fraud scandal in 2018. That year, Rep. Mark Harris (R-N.C.) won a razor-thin victory of just over 900 votes in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District. It was later revealed that contractor Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. visited the homes of multiple elderly voters to collect their absentee ballots, only to later destroy them. Dowless destroyed more than 1,000 ballots, throwing the election into chaos and prompting Harris to call for a new election, though he did not run. Harris would later win an election for North Carolina's 8th Congressional District. Woodhouse left his position atop the North Carolina GOP in 2019.

The appointment could prove significant in next year's midterm election, where retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) will not be running for a third term. And as a state that voted for a Republican president and a Democratic governor in two consecutive quadrennial elections, the election to fill Sen. Tillis' seat could come down to vote counts in a handful of precincts spread across a small number of counties.

North Carolina is no stranger to nail-biter elections. Last year, Democratic supreme court justice Allison Riggs narrowly won reelection by less than 800 votes statewide, which was confirmed in two recounts. Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin litigated the result for months, and unsuccessfully fought to throw out ballots cast by military members and North Carolinians living overseas, which would have tilted the election in his favor.

Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

GOP elections official charged with putting drugs in granddaughters' ice cream

66‑year‑old James Edwin Yokeley Jr. — the Republican chairman of the Surry County, North Carolina Board of Elections — now faces serious criminal charges after authorities in Wilmington, North Carolina, revealed he allegedly slipped illegal drugs into his granddaughters' ice cream.

According to Raleigh, North Carolina NBC affiliate WRAL News, on August 8, Yokeley approached a Wilmington police officer and claimed his two juvenile granddaughters had discovered two suspicious pills in ice cream they’d purchased from Dairy Queen on Oleander Drive.

However, surveillance video later revealed that Yokeley himself was seen placing the pills into both of the girls’ treats. The pills reportedly tested positive for MDMA and cocaine, as noted in an arrest warrant. The authorities said they have evidence he slipped drugs into the girls' ice cream.

According to the report, neither child consumed the drugs; the pills were promptly sent to a state laboratory for further confirmation.

Yokeley has since been booked on multiple felony counts, including contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance, possession of Schedule I narcotics, and child abuse. He posted a $100,000 secured bond after his arrest and transport to the New Hanover County Detention Center, per the report.

Yokeley was appointed just two months prior in June, by State Auditor Dave Boliek to lead the Surry County Board of Elections.

Click here to read WRAL's full report.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

'Electoral suicide': Swing state Senate Republican buried for suggesting Medicare cuts

Senate Republicans are under increasing pressure to identify additional spending cuts to finance their ambitious "Big Beautiful Bill." One potential area of focus is Medicare, according to The Hill.

Proponents of this suggestion are reportedly arguing that efficiency improvements could yield substantial savings.

Sen.Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, emphasized Thursday the potential for cost reductions within Medicare, drawing parallels to previous Medicaid reforms. "I think the same logic that you use to find to implement efficiencies in Medicaid…you can use at Medicare," Tillis reportedly stated.

"These are billions and billions and billions of dollars spent every year. If we get 10, 15% efficiency out of that, that's a big number," he added.

The lawmaker's statement, issued a day after the Senate Finance panel's meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, has faced criticism on social media.

Reacting to Tillis' remarks, former Barack Obama advisor Jon Favreau said in a post on the social platform X: "I guess kicking 15 million Americans off their health insurance isn’t enough, now they want to go after Medicare too."

Some commentators pointed out that Tillis is up for reelection next year, and his stance could influence his chances of winning. The North Carolina Republican launched his reelection campaign in March.

"Vulnerable GOP Senator proposes cutting Medicare," wrote another Obama advisor, Dan Pfeiffer.

Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, while sharing the GOP lawmaker's comments, wrote: "They said they wouldn’t cut Medicaid. They are. They said they wouldn’t cut Medicare."

"Tillis talking about Medicare cuts like this is electoral suicide. What the hell is he doing?!" wrote Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist.

"Cut Medicare I dare them. And I'll let my parents know and they'll never vote R ever again," wrote a user.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

'That's too much': NC governor reveals how much Trump's aid rejection will cost taxpayers

This week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) informed North Carolina Governor Josh Stein (D) that the federal government was rejecting his appeal of a prior rejection for federal disaster aid. Stein has used that rejection as a moment to educate local taxpayers about the financial implications of that rejection.

In a video posted to his official X account, Stein — a Democrat who won election last year in a state that President Donald Trump also won — explained that because FEMA had rejected his appeal to continue covering 100% of debris removal costs from Hurricane Helene, that cost would now have to be shouldered by taxpayers. He observed that while there had already been 12 million cubic yards of debris removed, there was still a lot more debris to remove from the affected areas.

"Helene created an amount of wreckage that is hard to wrap your head around. It is so immense," Stein said. "We have so much more work to do. And it's going to cost a lot: Up to $2 billion to fully clean the roads and waterways in Western North Carolina."

"It will cost North Carolina taxpayers a lot more to clean up Western North Carolina. And debris removal is just one of the many categories of relief we need to help Western North Carolina get back on its feet," he continued. "The sad reality is this: The more money North Carolina has to spend on debris removal and other types of cleanup that the federal government often executes, that's less money we'll have for other categories of relief – things like grants to small business, rebuilding downtown infrastructure, water and sewer systems, parks and more."

Stein made sure to thank the Tar Heel State's members of Congress from both sides of the political aisle in pushing for North Carolina to get help from FEMA, despite the rejection and the unsuccessful appeal. But he reminded residents that Helene, which made landfall last fall as a Category 4 storm, caused $60 billion in damage just to North Carolina alone.

"That's too much for the people of Western North Carolina, and even the state of North Carolina to bear on our own," he said.

"Here is what I want the people of Western North Carolina to know: We are going to stay the course," Stein added. "We are going to keep pushing the federal and state governments to do right by Western North Carolina. We will keep working with urgency, focus and transparency to get any appropriated money on the ground as quickly as we can to speed your recovery."

Watch Stein's video below, or by clicking this link.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

'Hit the guy with his clipboard': GOP congressman allegedly fought constituent at event

One Republican member of Congress allegedly got into a physical altercation with one of his constituents over the weekend.

That's according to the Charlotte Observer, which reported Tuesday that Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) has been accused of being the aggressor in a spat that took place over the weekend at Asheville, North Carolina's Rotary District 7670. Rotarian Guy Gooder, who organized the event Edwards spoke at on Saturday, witnessed the confrontation that ensued immediately after Edwards' speech.

According to Gooder, Edwards was supposed to speak about Hurricane Helene relief and recovery efforts in Asheville, which bore the brunt of damage of the Category 4 Storm that ravaged multiple states last fall. However, Edwards strayed from the topic and spent the bulk of his speech attacking various projects the Rotary Club was involved in.

“He spent 30 minutes basically insulting the Rotarians’ intelligence in his speech,” Gooder told the Observer. “He insulted many of the programs that we partner with, agencies like the State Department, and the [World Health Organization], which is polio eradication, insulted those departments, talked about maybe we can get some funding back to the State Department for polio, so our efforts can continue."

After his speech, Edwards walked down the center aisle of the room. According to Gooder, that's when the altercation with another Rotary Club member took place. He viewed the tension as a natural result of Edwards' speech, telling the paper: "If you do that for 30 minutes and you walk past somebody, they’re probably going to insult you back."

"The Rotarian basically said that was a load of B.S. Chuck stops and kind of bends over, kind of in-his-face type of stuff. And then it continues from there," Gooder recalled, saying that after words were exchanged, the congressman "hit the guy with his clipboard."

Edwards' office eventually released a statement saying that the North Carolina Republican "refused to engage with an intoxicated man that was cursing" who "became more belligerent and later called the police." But Gooder insisted that the Rotary Club member was acting normally and that had he been belligerent, he would have been removed from the premises.

Read the Observer's full article here.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

'Red flashing warning': Expert says Republicans are perfecting 'sabotage' of elections

Even though a Republican attempt to overturn a state election result has been likely halted for good by a federal judge, one legal expert is cautioning Americans that this may be just the beginning of the GOP's efforts to subvert democracy.

In a Tuesday essay for Slate, author Mark Joseph Stern said Democrats shouldn't be so quick to celebrate the recent decision by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers (an appointee of President Donald Trump) regarding last year's North Carolina Supreme Court election. Myers ordered that North Carolina election officials certify last November's race in which Democrat Allison Riggs defeated Republican Jefferson Griffin by just 734 total votes.

Stern argued that even though Democrats prevailed in this instance, the last six months of Griffin's repeated attempts to invalidate a decisive number of ballots proved that democracy is on shaky ground — both in North Carolina and across the country.

"The fact that this scheme got as far as it did is a red, flashing warning that our elections remain vulnerable to judicial sabotage in politicized courts — as evidenced by North Carolina’s elected Republican judges buoying Griffin at every turn," Stern wrote. "The candidate’s refusal to accept his defeat has also set a dangerous precedent for future losers convinced they can pick off enough valid ballots to snatch an unearned win."

"As North Carolina itself shows, there is an immense partisan imbalance at play, with Democrats accepting their losses while Republicans reject theirs," he continued. "American democracy cannot long survive this destabilizing asymmetry."

Stern observed that current North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby won his own race in 2020 by just 401 votes — an even smaller margin than Riggs' win over Griffin. And that after former Chief Justice Cheri Beasley demanded a recount and still came up short, she accepted the results of the election. According to Stern, the differing approaches in how the two parties approach a narrow loss spells bad news for future elections.

"These Republican judges will pursue power at all costs, evincing zero respect for democracy or civil rights," he wrote. "Our constitutional system was not built to withstand a two-party system in which one side plays by the rules and the other scorns those rules as a sucker’s game."

Click here to read Stern's full essay in Slate (subscription required).

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

'Jeffries would be the next speaker': How one state’s GOP gerrymander 'changed the nation'

While Democrats lost control of the White House and the Senate in the 2024 election, they may have flipped control of the House of Representatives were it not for a controversial move by Republican lawmakers in one battleground state.

In a Wednesday tweet, Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) claimed that "North Carolina's gerrymandered maps changed the nation." The freshman congressman — who announced in 2023 that he would not seek a second term — further argued: "The three seats stolen from Democrats (mine included) cost Democrats control of the U.S. House of Representatives."

"Without a brutal mid-census NC GOP gerrymander @RepJeffries would be the next Speaker in a 218-217 House," Nickel added, mentioning the official handle of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in his tweet.

Nickel's opinion was also shared by NBC News reporter Sahil Kapur, who posted to Bluesky that the current partisan makeup of the House as of this week stands at 220 Republican seats and 214 Democratic seats. In the one contest yet to be decided in California's 13th Congressional District, Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) is narrowly trailing his Democratic opponent Adam Gray by roughly 200 votes. If Gray prevails, that would put Democrats at 215 seats.

However, the House's Republican majority becomes even more tenuous after the 119th Congress is sworn in on January 3. At that point, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) will officially leave the House. When President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) will join his administration as National Security Advisor. And if Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who is the current House Republican Conference chair, is confirmed as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the GOP could end up with the tiniest of majorities.

"Could be a 220-215 majority, which shrinks to 217-215 early 2025 when you subtract Gaetz, Stefanik, Waltz," Kapur wrote. "The GOP gerrymander in North Carolina (flipped 3 Dem seats) saved their majority."

The gerrymander went through last fall, when North Carolina Republicans ignored court-drawn maps in 2022 to propose new redistricting maps that effectively turned four previously Democratic districts into districts that heavily favored Republicans. Even though Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the maps, the GOP supermajority overrode him, making the maps official for the 2024 election.

Lindsey Prather, a Democratic lawmaker in the Tar Heel State, blasted her Republican colleagues in a tweet, and called for an independent redistricting process to propose fairer maps.

""I want to take a second & acknowledge the sheer insanity that is [North Carolina politics]," Rep. Prather posted. "We need nonpartisan, independent redistricting. We shouldn't be waiting w/bated breath for maps that were drawn in secret. This shouldn't be exciting. It should be a boring thing that happens every 10 years."

The new maps will likely remain in place until after the 2030 Census. However, Democrats were able to break the Republican supermajority in the Tar Heel State this November despite Republicans' wins at the federal level. And Attorney General Josh Stein won North Carolina's gubernatorial election, keeping the governor's mansion in Democratic hands through at least 2028.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web