North Carolina’s Republicans lost even more ground this week – despite a party known for the ways they have tried to undermine democracy in the country.
On Wednesday, the state legislature overturned Senate Bill 382 of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. he won with the Democrats in the 2024 election.
“Using the people’s extraordinary need for aid as a cloak for their political youth is despicable,” Gov.-elect Josh Stein wrote on X.
The North Carolina GOP is known for its antics, but this is terrifying. Hurricane Helene was devastating the western part of the state. This storm caused the death of 103 people. Asheville was without clean drinking water for 52 days. Some towns never recover. Using the hurricane relief bill as a way to control Democrats is just plain embarrassing.
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Flood damage was widespread on the bridge after Hurricane Helene on Sept. 29, 2024, in Asheville, NC.
The first bill was not for Hurricane Helene. It was changing the way dentistry was done in the state. That version of the bill lay dormant for months until a few weeks ago – when it was given new meetings, repackaged and rewritten to more than 100 pages behind closed doors, and voted down by the House.
After it went to the Senate, Cooper voted against the bill on November 26, calling it a “sham.”
Senate Bill 382 is a sweeping reform that would allow Republicans to retain power in North Carolina, even though they have fewer election night wins than Republicans in other states. That includes giving incoming Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek the power to appoint members of the State Board of Elections, a job that would have fallen to Democratic Gov.-elect Stein otherwise.
It also prohibits incoming Attorney General Jeff Jackson from taking legal action against the wishes of the legislature and prevents incoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green from appealing decisions made by the state school review board.
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Again – this bill was supposed to be about getting help for the people of North Carolina. The country only spent about $1 billion on Hurricane Helene relief. It’s just a fraction of the $53 billion needed to fix it.
Instead, Republicans are using it to hold on to power while they are about to lose their majority in the North Carolina General Assembly.
This is typical behavior for North Carolina Republicans
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper presents research on hurricane recovery efforts on October 15, 2024, in Asheville.
This is not even the first time the Republican party has tried to seize power during the election. A Republican candidate for the Supreme Court lost the election by 734 votes and tried to cast 60,000 votes. It was rejected by the Board of Elections this week.
It’s also not the first time the state GOP has moved to limit the powers of incoming elected officials. In 2016, the Republican-controlled legislature removed Gov. Cooper’s powers.
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This is not the first time the GOP has supported a bill that wants to do one thing while doing another. In 2013, the state legislature passed a motorcycle safety law that also banned abortion in North Carolina. The difference is so extreme that opponents of the bill created the #motorcyclevagina meme.
Republicans are not the only ones who have done this. Democrats held similar positions in the 1970s and 1980s.
Christopher Cooper, director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy at Western Carolina University, says there are some differences in how Democrats and Republicans make their power plays. Fortunately, he notes that Republicans moved the current bill through the legislature quickly, and with great clarity.
“It’s the same playbook, but it’s being done better now, and executed more brutally now,” Cooper says.
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Ultimately it is the voters who suffer from the political games of the Republicans
Democrats are suing GOP representatives. That’s a good move. However, it’s a move they shouldn’t be making, and it will cost the party resources and energy.
If the Republican Party in North Carolina really cared about the people who lost everything during Hurricane Helene, they would have the integrity not to turn the relief bill into a political force.
Unfortunately, they can’t even handle it. In the end, the only people who lose out are the voters of North Carolina.
Follow USA TODAY poll writer Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NC needs Helene relief. Republicans use it as a leverage | The view