[UPDATED]
BLACK NC DEMS FALL
IN UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Several Black Democratic North Carolina candidates fell short in their respective races Election Day in unofficial results. For many, their only hope for victory is the number of mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day that can be counted up to November 12th.
All votes are scheduled to be officially certified on Nov. 13th.
With 100% of voting precincts statewide reporting in Tuesday night, NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley was outpointed by Republican conservative Associate State Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby by just 3,475 votes, locking both candidates in a 50-50 deadbeat.
Without knowing how many mail-in absentee ballots are yet to be counted at press time, if the race remains deadlocked, Chief Justice Beasley could call for a recount.
That will most likely not be the case in the historic race for lieutenant governor between Democrat Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley of Raleigh, and Republican conservative Mark Robinson of Greensboro. Both are African-Americans, but Robinson defeated Holley in unofficial numbers 52% to 48% percent.
Another Black Democrat who fell short of her electoral goal was Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes, who failed in her bid to be elected NC Labor Commissioner 51% to 49% against Republican Josh Dobson. Holmes promised to make the office more accountable to workers if elected.
Per the NC Court of Appeals, Black Democratic candidate Lora Cubbage fell to Black Republican Fred Gore, and incumbent Black Democratic Appellate Judge Ruben Young failed to hold off Republican challenger Jeff Carpenter.
Finally, in the Eighth Congressional District, former Associate NC Supreme Court Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, a Democrat, failed to unseat Republican incumbent Congressman Richard Hudson 53% to 47%.
Again, all races are scheduled to be certified on Nov. 13th.
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DEMOCRATS FAIL TO WIN
NC LEGISLATIVE MAJORITIES
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
NC Democrats felt that Election 2020 Tuesday was their best chance to take back the General Assembly from the Republicans, who’ve had it since 2011.
They were wrong.
Republicans in both the NC Senate and state House staunchly held their majorities, and with it, the right, once again, to redraw the voting districts that will govern the next ten years, thus maintaining the GOP dominance in how Congressional and legislative voting lines are drawn.
This means that Democrats will remain the minority party in the NC General Assembly until 2030. The prospect will determine how much Black Democratic representation will be allowed to be elected to the legislature.
They needed a gain of six House and five Senate seats to have attained majorities, but failed to do so.
“Voters returning a strong Republican majority to the North Carolina House of Representatives tonight reflects the powerful momentum behind policies that promote economic prosperity, educational achievement, and safety for families,”said a jubilant Republican House Speaker Tim Moore in a statement.
GOP Senate Pro Tem Pres.Phil Berger concurred. “For the sixth consecutive election, voters made a clear choice in support of the Republican platform of low taxes, expanded school choice, and large investments in education and teacher pay.”
Fortunately for Democrats, Gov. Roy Cooper was reelected for a second term Tuesday, defeating Lt. Gov. Dan Forest handily. And even though Republicans maintained control of the legislature, they did not do so with veto-proof majorities.
The GOP will have 28 Republicans to 22 Democrats in the Senate chamber, and 69 GOP’ers to 51 Democrats in the House next January. Cooper’s official pen can still veto any legislation he’s not pleased with.
However, the Democratic governor will also have the same difficulty he’s had in recent times convincing Republicans to expand Medicare coverage for low-income citizens.
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FEDERAL LAWSUITS FILED
IN GRAHAM MARCH ATTACK
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The ACLU of North Carolina and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law out of Washington, D.C. filed a federal lawsuit earlier Nov. 2nd, suing Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson, and Graham Police Chief Mary Kristy Cole for the pepper-spray attack on 200 peaceful marchers Oct. 31st who were headed to cast they ballots on the last day of early voting.
According to published reports, the attack by sheriff’s deputies and Graham police officers targeted the marchers, including several young children and elderly participants - at least one in a wheelchair.
Twenty-three people were arrested , including at least one reporter.
Rev. Greg Drumwright of Greensboro, the leader of Justice for the Next Generation, the sponsor of the event, maintains that the march had a permit which included demonstrators stopping at a confederate statue to kneel for eight minutes and 42 seconds, in memory of the police killing of North Carolina native George Floyd last May, and then holding a rally in front of the Alamance Courthouse.
The Alamance sheriff and Graham police chief counter that the marchers did not have permission to walk in the street or block traffic, and that once their salute to George Floyd reached the nine minute mark, officers began using the pepper spray to move participants.
Still photos show some officers aimed the spray at the ground in front of marchers, while other aimed above marchers’ heads. Video shows participants struggling to breathe as they were being moved.
Authorities allege that at least one officer was assaulted by a marcher.
“The police violence in Graham, North Carolina perpetrated against a group of peaceful and primarily Black protestors over the weekend is yet another clear violation of the right to free speech and the right to vote," said the Lawyers' Committee in a press release. "We will not stand back and let the voices of voters continue to be suppressed just hours before Election Day. Racially motivated attacks on peaceful demonstrators is a form of grotesque voter intimidation and we cannot continue to let these acts of violence continue.”
The federal lawsuit alleges that the Alamance Sheriff’s Dept. and Graham Police Dept. violated the First, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by restricting freedom of speech and stopping the marchers from voting.
Rev. Drumwright is named as one of the plaintiffs.
Top state officials, including Gov. Roy Cooper and State Attorney General Josh Stein, condemned the incident, with Cooper saying the law enforcement behavior was “unacceptable.”
North Carolina’s three Democratic congresspeople - G.K. Butterfield, David Price and Alma Adams - also condemned the incident, calling for a U.S. Justice Dept. probe.
"What took place in Alamance County on Saturday is one of the ugliest instances of voter intimidation and voter suppression I have ever seen,” Rep. Adams said in a press release. “Chemical agents should never be used on people exercising their First Amendment rights and they should never be used on people going to vote."
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