Incumbent Sen. Michael Lee surrendered the 30th seat by defeating Democratic challenger Marcia Morgan in state Senate District 7. Republicans entered the night with 28 safe or probable victories, including upsetting a seat held by Democrat Toby Fitch. Lee’s victory, combined with a win by incumbent Sen. Bobby Hanig against Democrat Valerie Jordan in a northeastern North Carolina seat, pushed Republicans to the magic number. “This election has been a barometer of where voters want their state and country to go,” Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger said in a statement Tuesday night. “The Republican platform of low taxes, job creation, expanded parental choice and quality education is a platform that reflects the needs of all North Carolinians.” Cooper has vetoed more bills than any governor in North Carolina history since taking office in 2016 with Republicans controlling the state legislature. However, since Republicans lost their supermajorities in both the House and Senate in the 2018 elections, none of Cooper’s vetoes have been overridden. In North Carolina’s 120-member House, Republicans need 72 seats to win a supermajority. They came tantalizingly close, winning 71 seats. Democratic wins by Terence Everitt in Wake County, Diamond Stanton-Williams in Cabarrus County and Laura Budd in Mecklenburg were decisive victories on a night in which Republicans unseated six Democratic incumbents. Even without the 72nd seat, Republicans could lean on conservative Democrats and use the absences to help override vetoes. All 170 state legislative seats were up during the election. Cooper and state Democrats tried to see a positive in the Republicans’ lack of a supermajority in the House. “Our democracy thrives when we work together to enact common-sense solutions that improve the lives of all North Carolinians,” North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Richardson said in a statement. “North Carolina Democrats are committed to pursuing bipartisan solutions and advancing our policies to expand Medicaid, fully fund our public schools, and promote a stronger, more resilient economy.” Supermajorities in both houses would limit Cooper’s influence during his final two years in office. “At that point, Roy Cooper is not even a particularly effective gear lifter for the Republican Party,” said Chris Cooper, director of the Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University. “We have, by design, an extremely weak ruler to begin with. There’s not much left but a bully pulpit. He can’t do much.” During Cooper’s first two years in office, Republicans, equipped with supermajorities, overrode 23 of his 28 vetoes. But since Democrats broke GOP supermajorities in the 2018 election, none of Cooper’s 57 vetoes have been overridden. Republicans, who have controlled both houses of the state legislature since the 2010 election, point to past policy positions as a road map for where a supermajority would go. “I don’t think you’re necessarily going to see drastic new policy directions,” said Pat Ryan, a Republican strategist who previously worked for Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger. “Senator Berger has been consistent for a long time. He prioritizes cutting taxes as low as they can go, expanding school choice. Things we’ve been hearing for years. I don’t think there’s any drastic change.” On the campaign trail, Democrats tried to argue to voters that Republican supermajorities would push for sweeping changes to abortion rights, voting rights and public education. “Let’s hope this General Assembly doesn’t follow their worst impulses if that happens,” said Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson, who has worked with Cooper. “Governor’s veto succeeded in stopping the culture wars from coming to North Carolina.” Republicans held 28 Senate seats and 69 House seats in the 2021-22 legislative session, meaning the GOP needed two more Senate seats and three more House seats to win supermajorities. The districts were redrawn in December after the new Census, meaning the new districts don’t correspond exactly with the old ones. Republican and Democratic strategists, operatives and officials had expected the race for a GOP supermajority to come down to a handful of districts in both chambers, including contests with Hanig and Lee.
Veto power
North Carolina was the last state in the nation to give its governor veto power. The governor did not have veto power until January 1, 1997. Cooper’s three immediate predecessors combined for 35 vetoes. Sixteen of them were abolished. Cooper, working with a Republican-controlled legislature since he was elected in November 2016, has vetoed 75 pieces of legislation. Governor, Party, Years in office, Veto, Overrides
Jim Hunt, Democrat, 1993-2001
Note: The governor did not have veto power in NC until January 1, 1997. Note: Republicans had a supermajority in 2017-2018, but not in subsequent years.
