Governor Pat McCrory has signed his first executive order on his first weekday in office. He held the first news conference of his term this morning.
Pat McCrory: "My first order actually rescinds the judicial nominating commission. We're going back to the original constitutional authority granted to the governor, giving the governor the authority to appoint vacancies on the bench."
The move dissolves a non-partisan commission Governor Bev Perdue created in 2011 that nominates appeals and superior court judges for judicial positions. But Perdue temporarily suspended the group just before her term ended to make judicial appointments on her own. Governor McCrory also announced three new appointments to his staff: former business consultant Chris Estes, will serve as the state's new chief information officer and former state Representative Fred Steen will be his legislative liaison. A former colleague of McCrory's at Duke Energy, Tony Almeida, was named the governor's top economic advisor.