Berger ally strikes blow against NCGA GOP
"Isn't it ironic, don't ya think?" -- Alanis Morrisette
Readers of this website and voters in Rockingham County may recognize the name of Judge Ed Wilson. Wilson, a Democrat, used to preside on the Superior Court bench in Rockingham County. One of his reelection bids — where he was opposed by a viable Republican opponent — got publicly endorsed by state senator Phil Berger, leader of the state senate and the de facto leader of state Republicans.
Wilson lost that reelection bid. The Berger machine arranged for Wilson to be named a *special* Superior Court judge — enabling him to preside over *special* circumstances on an as-needed basis.
Well, one of those *special* situation recently arose. Three judges were needed to hear arguments on Governor Josh Stein’s complaint about the GOP-controlled legislature stripping him of board of elections appointment power. Let’s see how that went:
[…]The North Carolina legislature’s most recent attempt to take away the governor’s influence over elections is unconstitutional, a trial court panel ruled Wednesday.
The ruling focused on a provision of a new law that transferred power to appoint members to the State Board of Elections from the governor to the state auditor. The law was passed by the GOP-controlled legislature in December, shortly before new Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and new State Auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican, were sworn into office
The effort was among the latest attempts by GOP legislative leaders to give their party more control over election rules in North Carolina, where that power is vested in the governor — an office Democrats keep winning. So far, the legislature’s efforts have all been defeated in court or at the ballot box by voters.
Critics of the new law, which also stripped powers from other state offices won by Democrats in 2024, have called the wide-ranging legislation a politically motivated power grab. Several other pieces of the law have also been challenged as unconstitutional, in separate lawsuits.
A judicial panel, in a bipartisan ruling, said the election changes outlined in Senate Bill 382 violated the state constitution. Giving control of elections to Boliek instead of Stein is clearly unconstitutional, they wrote, based on not just the constitution itself but also based on the other recent lawsuits Republicans have lost in similar efforts.
“Senate Bill 382 contravenes the plain text of the Constitution, constitutional history and context, and binding Supreme Court precedent,” the judges wrote in the 2-1 ruling.
The order was handed down by superior court judges Ed Wilson, a Democrat, and Lori Hamilton, a Republican. A third judge, Republican Andrew Womble, dissented. All three judges were picked to hear the case by Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican. In North Carolina, trials over constitutional issues are often held by three-judge panels instead of a single judge.[…]
