NCPOL

State lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that would change election rules for a handful of school boards in the western half of the state. Some will give a boost to Republican candidates in majority Republican counties, and changes in Buncombe County will redraw school board electoral maps.

Democrats in the state Senate have filed legislation to penalize elected officials who switch parties in the middle of their term.

A top House GOP leader announced on Thursday that Reps. Keith Kidwell and Jeff McNeely, who are both white, are no longer deputy majority whips after their resignations were sought by other GOP leaders. The Democrats who were the subject of the comments are both Black.

After approving funding for joining the multi-state collective known by acronym ERIC, Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly want to prohibit the state from joining the organization

Experts say four Democratic incumbents are vulnerable when state legislators draw a new map later this year. The state’s highest court in late April threw out a 2022 Democratic ruling against partisan gerrymandering.

A veto override had seemed just out of reach for Republicans just six week before they successfully overrode Cooper's veto of a 12-week abortion limit on Tuesday. Republicans now expect her switch could propel some GOP-backed education policies and transgender restrictions across the finish.

The state Senate plans to consider first an override Tuesday afternoon. House Speaker Tim Moore’s chief of staff said the speaker then aims to complete the override later in the day should Senate Republicans be successful.

This week on the political front, a jury found former President Donald Trump civilly liable for committing sexual abuse. Meanwhile a looming debt ceiling crisis lingers over more than just Washington. In Raleigh, the Gov. Roy Cooper will veto an abortion bill at a Saturday rally. Reporter Danielle Battaglia, strategist Aisha Dew, and longtime political operative Anna Beavon Gravely offer insights and analysis in our weekly review.

Cooper usually vetoes bills privately in his office, announcing his decision in a press release. This time he'll take his veto stamp to a much more public setting.

State lawmakers want to crack down on websites that publish mugshots and make people pay to have their photos removed.