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North Carolina Open Thread: Gerrymander, Beasley v Budd, NC Supreme Court, Texas Pete [1]
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Date: 2022-10-16
NC Policy Watch, Rob Schofield, 10/11/2022
North Carolina is a deeply “purple” state. That is to say it’s one where statewide elections between Republicans and Democrats tend to be very close.
A classic example: The 2020 contest for state Supreme Court chief justice in which the incumbent Cheri Beasley (the current Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate) lost to Republican challenger Paul Newby (then an associate justice on the court) by 0.00007% — just 401 votes out of the almost 5.4 million cast.
Interestingly, Beasley’s Senate race seems as if it could be headed for a similar, razor-thin outcome as polls continue to show her and GOP nominee Ted Budd locked in a virtual tie.
Voter registration numbers also reflect this narrow divide. As of Oct. 8, the state had just 2,494,652 registered Democrats, 2,218,884 registered Republicans and 2,625,441 who were unaffiliated. In such a evenly divided state, it would seem safe to assume that the partisan composition of the groups of lawmakers elected to the state’s General Assembly and congressional delegation might largely reflect that close split.
NC Policy Watch, Keylan Lyons, 10/13/2022
Two North Carolina Supreme Court seats are on the ballot this Election Day, offering Republicans the opportunity to flip the state’s highest court, which currently includes four Democrats and three members of the GOP. Policy Watch has contacted each of the four candidates and is publishing their responses.
Sam J. Ervin, IV is the incumbent associate justice running for reelection as a Democrat. He has been a member of the Supreme Court since 2015. He served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals before that, from 2009 to 2015. He was also a member of the North Carolina Utilities Commission from 1999 to 2009. Here is a link to Ervin’s website.
Ervin’s opponent is Republican Trey Allen, general counsel for the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts. His legal career began as a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps. After an honorable discharge, he completed a clerkship with then-Justice Paul Newby, of the state Supreme Court. He then went into private practice before joining the faculty at UNC Chapel Hill in 2013. He was appointed general counsel for the AOC after Newby became chief justice in 2021.
Allen did not respond to repeated requests to participate in this interview. Here’s a link to his website, which describes his judicial philosophy as:
” … straightforward. He believes that judges must follow the Constitution as originally understood and the laws as written. When judges issue rulings based on their political views, they exceed their authority and abuse the public’s trust. Judges should treat everyone with dignity and respect and provide equal justice under the law in all cases.”
x Did you know you can register to vote online? You can if you have a state-issued ID or Driver's License! #ncpol
https://t.co/c7MwIqepgf — New North Carolina Project (@NewNCProject) October 10, 2022
Charlotte Observer, 10/14/2022
A man bought a bottle of Texas Pete original hot sauce for $3 before discovering it is from North Carolina and not Texas. If he knew the sauce was made in Winston-Salem before purchasing it, he says he never would have bought it, according to a class-action lawsuit filed against the company producing Texas Pete hot sauce.
However, Phillip White, of California, argues the bottle’s imagery — including a cartoon cowboy spinning a lasso underneath the state flag’s “famed white ‘lone’ star” — duped him into believing the sauce was from Texas, and is therefore “deceptive,” according to a complaint filed Sept. 12.
“There is nothing ‘Texas’ about Texas Pete,” the 49-page complaint states.
White is suing T.W. Garner Food Co. over the brand’s “false marketing and labeling scheme,” accusing it of violating the nation’s consumer protection laws, on behalf of those who bought the sauce under similar impressions, according to the lawsuit.
The company told McClatchy News that it is aware of the lawsuit in a statement on Oct. 10.
Raw story. Matthew Chapman, 9/29/2022
On Thursday, WRAL reported that a community in Harnett County, North Carolina is up in arms over a Halloween decoration that appears to depict a man hanging from a tree.
"This display, shared hundreds of times on Facebook, shows what appears to be a fully-dressed man with his hands tied behind his back hanging from a tree outside a home in Coats," said the report. "Investigators with the Harnett County’s Sheriff Office tell WRAL the family says it was Halloween decoration meant to look like a farmer. Some residents say the display had racist undertones."
According to the report, the family, which is Hispanic, has taken down the decoration after it prompted social media outrage and an investigation by the county sheriff's office. "Investigators said the family took down the display after realizing the hurt it caused within the community. They go on to say there aren’t policies banning such displays on private property."
"Those who saw it in person said this hits close to home for families of color," said the report. "'My daughter is biracial — she’s Black, white and Indian, and I don’t want her growing up seeing these things,' said Jenni Byrd."
Randall - We’re reaching out to ask you to donate $3 or whatever you can today to help us reach our October fundraising goals. But before we ask, will you give us a chance to explain why your contribution is so important for our campaign? North Carolina’s open Senate seat is ranked by nonpartisan experts at CNN and FiveThirtyEight as one of Democrats’ best pick-up opportunities. Right now, the latest poll shows Cheri TIED with our opponent Ted Budd. Cheri Beasley: 46%
Ted Budd: 46% We’ve aggressively fought back against Republican attack ads, and it is working. But the truth is we hit a small snag. We’re behind on some important fundraising goals, and our final FEC deadline is on Wednesday. To put it bluntly: We’re pacing behind. We’re halfway through the month and not halfway to our goal. Early voting starts on Thursday. So that’s why your support today is critical. We need every single person who can afford to give and who cares about North Carolina’s Senate race and the Senate majority to stand with Cheri. Please consider donating $3 or any amount you can afford today to send Cheri Beasley to the U.S. Senate. We cannot afford to fall short and lose our momentum right before early voting and our final FEC deadline this week! If you've stored your info with ActBlue, we'll process your contribution instantly. Every dollar makes a difference. Millions of people are going to cast a ballot in North Carolina this November, but this race could come down to a small handful of votes. So your donation today could make all the difference. Thank you so much!
Thank you for reading and contributing, I hope you have a great week.
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