Since Republicans gained control of the North Carolina legislature in 2011, judges have emerged as some of their staunchest adversaries. Now lawmakers want to curb state court powers. Originally published in The American Prospect. THIS FALL, IN A DISPUTE OVER GERRYMANDERING, federal judges stripped North Carolina lawmakers of the power to draw their own state district lines. […]
N.C. on the Brink: Repeal of Anti-Trans Bill Falls Flat
At ground zero in the fight over LGBTQ rights, a special legislative session to repeal the state’s House Bill 2 devolved into name-calling and hostile stalemate. Originally published in The American Prospect. DURING THE LONGEST NIGHT of the year—after what had felt like the longest day—North Carolina Governor-elect Roy Cooper walked into a Raleigh news conference […]
History Matters
North Carolina’s jarring GOP power grab feels familiar. Originally published in The Washington Post. ONE OF THE MOST SURREAL moments during last week’s fracas at the North Carolina legislature came during a news conference called by the state NAACP. The civil rights organization was blasting the Republican legislative majority for its brazen efforts to strip authority from […]
Counterprotests Swamp KKK Celebration
A Ku Klux Klan gathering both recalled North Carolina’s racially troubled history and demonstrated the strength and diversity of the state’s civil rights movement today. Originally published in The American Prospect. IN THE END, SATURDAY’S “Victory Klavalkade”—a celebration of Donald Trump’s presidency by the North Carolina-based Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan—turned out […]
A New Suppression Tactic: Voter Defamation
As they challenge the results of a governor’s race, North Carolina Republicans lay the groundwork for a Trump-era assault on voting rights. Originally published in The New Republic. MY NEIGHBOR LUCIA FOSTER was surprised when I emailed her on November 18. “Are you aware,” I asked, “that your name is on one of the election […]
A Return to Nixonland
Originally published in Indy Week. A FEW WEEKS AGO I STARTED READING Nixonland, Rick Perlstein’s 748-page social history of the 1960s and ’70s through the lens of Richard Nixon’s presidency. I’ve gotten most of the way through the book and have been reflecting on how we seem to have landed, once again, back in 1968. Back then, following […]
Democrats Make Gains in North Carolina Against Backdrop of Voter Suppression
Changing demographics, combined with the three-year effort by state Republicans to suppress minority and youth turnout, led to close races. Originally published in The American Prospect. BY 12:30 a.m. WEDNESDAY, THE RALEIGH where North Carolina Democrats had earlier been whooping in anticipation of a presidential victory had nearly emptied out. Stragglers were sitting on the […]
Equality Becomes a Talking Point in North Carolina Gubernatorial Race
With the state’s demographics and political makeup shifting, backlash against anti-LGBT law may help send Democrat Roy Cooper to the governor’s office. Originally published in The American Prospect. IAN PALMQUIST WAS RUNNING ERRANDS last Tuesday when the North Carolina gubernatorial debate came on the air. As the 39-year-old gay activist drove around Raleigh, listening to his […]
The Trump Show
A report from the Cleveland as North Carolina Republicans reckon with their party’s new leader. Originally published in Indy Week. Sunday night Before he left for the Republican National Convention, Bob Orr started reading William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. He’d heard Donald Trump’s political ascent likened to that of Adolf Hitler. […]
Dispatches from the 2016 Republican National Convention
Originally published in Indy Week. RNC Day 1: “There Will Be an End to the Earth” RNC Day 2: “Hillary Is a Foreign Agent of the Communist Chinese!” RNC, Day 3: “National Security, Not National Benevolence” RNC Day 3: “Close Your Eyes and Take Some Soothing Breaths” RNC Day 4: “A Dog Park, But for Humans” RNC Day […]
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