Republicans appear to win NC Senate supermajority but fall one seat short in House
Republicans appear to have won a supermajority in the state Senate, according to unofficial election results, but were one seat short of the House supermajority they would need to have veto-proof control of the legislature.
Many races were all but decided before the election because candidates were unopposed or in safe districts for their party. So control hinged on a handful of swing districts in each chamber. Republicans needed to gain three seats in the House and two in the Senate to take supermajorities.
“We got a supermajority. It’s a good feeling,” Dylan Watts, Senate Republican Caucus director, told The News & Observer Tuesday night. “Bobby Hanig and Michael Lee worked their tails off. They ran phenomenal campaigns. Feels nice to get it again,” he said.
In an emailed statement, Republican Senate leader Phil Berger said “the voters of North Carolina spoke loud and clear. They returned a Republican supermajority to the state Senate.“
“This election has been a barometer for where voters want their state and country to go,” Berger said. “The Republican platform of low taxes, job creation, expanded parental choice, and quality education, is one that reflects the needs of all North Carolinians. Tonight’s results prove just that,” he said.
“Our promise to the people of North Carolina is that the Senate Republican supermajority will continue to deliver on those priorities,” Berger said.
Republicans previously held supermajorities in both the House and Senate during the first half of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s first term. In 2020, Cooper was reelected to a second term and Republicans kept majorities, but did not gain supermajorities in that election.
Cooper responded to the results with a tweet late Tuesday night.
“We stopped a GOP supermajority tonight when North Carolinians voted for balance and progress,” Cooper said. “I’ll continue to work with this legislature to support a growing economy, more clean energy, better health care and strong public schools.”
A Republican supermajority in both chambers would have likely resulted in a new law changing abortion restrictions.
House Republican Caucus Director Stephen Wiley said Republicans were disappointed about falling one short of a supermajority, but noted they won 10 seats in districts that had voted for President Joe Biden.
“We fell one seat shy of a supermajority and I’m disappointed to come up short, but proud of my entire team for working so hard to put us in a position to succeed,” Wiley said. “I am also really excited for my friends in the Senate and how well they did gaining a supermajority tonight.”
The Republican leaders of the state legislature — House Speaker Tim Moore of Kings Mountain and Berger of Eden — both ran unopposed, so were easily reelected. Results showed Moore with 100% of the vote and Berger with 84% of the vote, trailed by 15% of write-in votes.
Swing districts
All 170 seats were up for election this year: 50 state Senate seats and 120 in the state House. Republicans hold majorities in both chambers, and this campaign season have been vying to turn those into supermajorities. A supermajority, which is three-fifths of lawmakers voting, gives a party enough votes to override a veto by the governor — if all of its members agree and are there for the vote. That means 30 of the Senate’s 50 seats and 72 of the House’s 120 seats.
Otherwise, Cooper determines whether a bill passed by the legislature becomes law.
In the Senate, swing districts included that of two Republican incumbents, Sen. Michael Lee in New Hanover County, who was challenged by Democrat Marcia Morgan; and Bobby Hanig, whose challenger was Democrat Valerie Jordan.
Hanig and Lee won their races, according to unofficial election results.
Other closely watched races included two in Wake County — incumbent Democratic Sen. Sydney Batch vs. Republican Mark Cavaliero in the southern part of the county, and Democrat Mary Wills Bode vs. Republican E.C. Sykes in the northern part of the county. Democrats were favored to win both of those races.
Also closely watched was Senate District 19 in Cumberland County, which is between Republican Wesley Meredith, a former senator, and Democrat Val Applewhite. That seat is currently held by Democratic Sen. Kirk deViere, a more moderate Democrat who lost his primary to Applewhite after the challenger was endorsed by Cooper in an unusual move by the governor.
Here’s where those races stood at nearly 1 a.m.:
▪ Senate District 7 in New Hanover County: With all precincts reporting, Republican Lee won with 51% to Democrat Morgan’s 49%.
▪ Senate District 3 in Eastern North Carolina: With all precincts reporting, incumbent Republican Hanig won with 53% to Democrat Jordan’s 47%.
▪ Senate District 17 in Wake County: Democrat Batch won in unofficial results with 52%, followed by Republican Cavaliero with 46%.
▪ Senate District 18 in Wake County: Democrat Bode won with 51%, followed by Republican Sykes with 46% and trailed by Libertarian candidate Ryan Brown with more than 2%.
▪ Senate District 19 in Cumberland County: With all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results, Democrat Applewhite won the race with 52% to Republican Meredith’s 47%.
In the House, Republicans were closely watching about 15 to 20 competitive races. Multiple Democratic House incumbents appeared to have lost their seats.
Results for House swing districts include:
▪ House District 9 in Pitt County. With all 18 precincts reporting in that district, unofficial results appeared to be outside the recount threshold of 1% in this close race. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Brian Farkas had 49.22% of the vote to Republican challenger Timothy Reeder’s 50.78%.
▪ House District 63 in Alamance County. In another close race, with all precincts reporting, Republican Stephen Ross led with 51% to incumbent Democratic Rep. Ricky Hurtado’s 49%.
▪ House District 48 in Hoke and Scotland counties: With all 22 precincts reporting, unofficial results had incumbent Democratic Rep. Garland Pierce winning with 53% to Republican challenger Melissa Swarbrick’s 47%.
▪ House District 35: With all precincts reporting, incumbent Democratic Rep. Terence Everitt led with 52%, to Republican challenger Fred Von Canon with 46% and Libertarian candidate Joseph Serio with less than 2%.
Democratic leadership in the General Assembly includes Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue of Raleigh, who won reelection in a heavily blue district, and House Minority Leader Robert Reives, of Chatham County, who won a tougher race. Both Blue and Reives would like to retain their leadership roles.
▪ Senate District 14 in Wake County: Blue had 69% of the vote, with Republican challenger Chris Baker at 28% and Libertarian Matthew Laszacs at 3% of the vote, with all precincts reporting.
▪ House District 54 in Chatham and Randolph counties: Reives led his race with 55%, over Republican challenger Walter Petty with 45%, with all precincts reporting.
Republican vs. Democratic control
With their majorities maintained, Republicans do not need Democrats to pass a bill, so the level of input from the other side of the aisle is up to them. This means the amount of raises for state employees and teachers, the amount of taxes that we pay and how public education is funded are all in the hands of the majority.
In 2023, the biggest issue that will impact North Carolina is that the U.S. Supreme Court has given abortion restrictions to state legislatures to determine. Republican legislative leaders said last summer that they did not run any abortion-related bills because they are waiting to see if they gain a supermajority.
Both Berger and Moore said they support tighter abortion restrictions than the current state law of a ban after 20 weeks’ pregnancy.
Moore also previously told The N&O that bills vetoed by Cooper during the last legislative session would be brought back again if Republicans gain a supermajority. Other Republican leaders who ran uncontested races and essentially have won include Senate Rules Chair Bill Rabon and House budget chairs Jason Saine and Donny Lambeth.
The threshold to trigger recounts for non-statewide races is 1%, according to state law.
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, told reporters on Monday that candidates and voters should know that the state’s election processes are “tried and true.”
“If we’re late into the night, that’s not uncommon,” Bell said.
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This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Republicans appear to win NC Senate supermajority but fall one seat short in House."
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