Scott Boehmer

Tag: North Carolina

  • Federal Cuts, Local Impact

    As a small, local example of the impact of how the Trump administration is recklessly cutting down the federal government, the school district my daughter attends has suddenly lost millions of dollars that helped it to attract teachers to work in the district’s highest-need schools.

    The U.S. Department of Education announced last month it was canceling $600 million worth of “divisive teacher training grants” across the country, including $11.78 million for Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) to implement Project LEADERS (Leveraging Employee Advancement to Develop Excellence and Reach Success). 

    According to WCPSS, the grant helped hire 133 new teachers across the system’s 24 highest-need schools since January 2024, leading to a 40 percent reduction in teacher vacancies in those schools.  

    …

    The Department of Education characterized the grants it canceled as promoting critical race theory, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and anti-racism. In the case of Wake County Public Schools, the money covered $1,500 hiring bonuses, $2,500 retention bonuses, training sessions, and tuition assistance for beginning teachers.

    Chloe Courtney Bohl

    A Teacher Reflects on the Impacts of Federal Funding Cuts to Wake County Schools (Indy Week)

  • Protecting North Carolina’s Voter Rolls

    Established in 2012, ERIC offers a modern and common-sense approach to interstate voter registration maintenance. At its core, ERIC is a voluntary and bipartisan interstate collaborative that now includes 21 states and Washington, D.C. Together, member states agree to securely share and cross-reference voter registration data across state boundaries in order to identify and eliminate duplicates, deceased voters, and people who have moved from one state to another.

    Carolina Forward Research Staff

    Protecting North Carolina’s Voter Rolls (Carolina Forward)

  • Will Republicans Steal the North Carolina Supreme Court Election?

    The State Board of Elections’s final count shows Justice Allison Riggs, the Democratic incumbent in the race, to be the winner, by a margin of 734 votes out of the more than 5.5 million ballots that were cast. But Judge Griffin, the North Carolina Republican Party and conservative election deniers have embarked on an extraordinary effort to wipe away that result, and throw out tens of thousands of ballots that were submitted by mail or in early voting.

    …

    On Tuesday, the State Supreme Court blocked state officials from certifying the outcome of the race. Later this month, pending the outcome of legal battles over whether the issue should be heard in state or federal courts, the North Carolina court could decide, in effect, whether a Democrat or a Republican will hold the seat.

    Eduardo Medina and Michael Wines

    In North Carolina, Republicans Try to Reverse a Supreme Court Election Loss (The New York Times)

    The Supreme Court of North Carolina has been asked to rule on a bizarre request from Jefferson Griffin, the losing Republican challenger for an Associate Justice seat on that same court. Last week, the Griffin campaign filed a request for the state’s highest court to toss out 60,000 votes, thus reversing the outcome of the election which Griffin lost. In doing so, Jefferson Griffin’s crusade against the voters of North Carolina is not only anti-democratic, but anathema to the rule of law.

    Simply put, this is a grim preview of North Carolina’s political future. Should Griffin’s request be granted, North Carolina’s already threadbare democracy could be irreparably torn. Overturning the will of the voters in a valid election is a major escalation from ordinary partisan politics, and should be roundly condemned across the political spectrum.

    Carolina Forward Research Staff

    A choice of democracy (Carolina Forward)

    Democracy Docket has an interview with Justice Allison Riggs about this situation that you can watch here:

    The GOP is Trying to Steal a North Carolina Supreme Court Seat (Democracy Docket)

    If you’re in North Carolina and want to check if your vote is one of the votes that Jefferson Griffin is trying to disqualify, Apex Council Member Terry Mahaffey has made a tool to allow you to check: https://terrymah.github.io/challenge/

  • Ranked Choice Voting would be good for North Carolina

    Let’s talk about Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). It’s a voting system that’s making elections fairer for millions of Americans—nearly 20 million, in fact! But what’s so great about it? Here are a few key benefits:

    1. Winners need majority support: With RCV, winners have to get over 50% of the vote. That means they can’t just squeak by with a small slice of support.
    2. Better campaigning: Candidates can’t just play to their base—they have to appeal to more people. This means fewer nasty attack ads and more focus on real issues.
    3. No more “spoiler” candidates: Ever felt like voting for your favorite candidate might “waste” your vote or hurt your second choice? RCV fixes that. You rank your choices, and if your top pick doesn’t win, that candidate is eliminated, and your vote can still count for your next choice.  This enables broader discussion from a wider range of candidates.
    4. Saves money and increases turnout: RCV skips the need for costly runoffs, which often have low voter participation.
    Don Berryann & Lennie Friedman

    Ranked Choice Voting would be good for North Carolina (NC Newsline)

  • NC GOP Sore Losers

    On the brink of losing their supermajority in the state legislature, North Carolina Republicans overrode a gubernatorial veto on Wednesday to enact a new law that gives them control over elections in the state and strips the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of some of their powers.

    Sam Levine

    Unfortunately, Western North Carolina had to watch as every Republican in the general assembly shamelessly put their desire to strip political power away from recently elected Democrats ahead of the aid and relief their communities need. Using the guise of Hurricane Helene relief is a new low, even for general assembly Republicans.

    Anderson Clayton, Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party

    North Carolina GOP lawmakers override veto to strip power from Democratic officials (The Guardian)

  • Three big answers (about NC elections)

    What direction is North Carolina headed in?

    The answer: still unclear.

    Carolina Forward Research Staff

    Together, Robinson and Morrow may have publicly established the floor of support that Republican statewide candidates can expect in North Carolina, no matter what. If anything, this speaks even more clearly to how deep political polarization has sunk in.

    Carolina Forward Research Staff

    Though Democrats won a majority of votes for the State Senate (50.1%) and State House (51.1%), Republicans nevertheless held on to their supermajority in the former, and are just 1 seat from a supermajority in the latter.

    Carolina Forward Research Staff

    Three big answers (Carolina Forward)