The gang of 11

Published March 25, 2016

by John Wynne, Politics NC, March 24, 2016.

It’s possible people aren’t aware of this yet, but there was a law passed by the General Assembly in a special session yesterday that has generated some controversy. Intended to quash Charlotte’s transgender bathroom ordinance, the law went further by repealing anti-discrimination laws that are tougher than those at the state level.

Although Senate Democrats walked out en masse rather than vote for what they termed a “farce”, in the House the bill received bipartisan support – meaning that 11 Democrats voted for the bill, those being:

Rep. William Brisson (Bladen)

Rep. Charles Graham (Robeson)

Rep. Elmer Floyd (Cumberland)

Rep. George Graham (Lenoir)

Rep. Ken Goodman (Richmond)

Rep. Howard Hunter (Hertford)

Rep. Larry Bell (Sampson)

Rep. Garland Pierce (Scotland)

Rep. Brad Salmon (Harnett)

Rep. William Richardson (Cumberland)

Rep. Michael Wray (Northampton)

Note that many of these members, Democrats voting ‘aye’, are members of the Legislative Black Caucus. They represent socially conservative districts where the concept of gender identity and transgender rights are very foreign concepts. Should Roy Cooper be elected governor and Democrats manage to roll back the GOP’s veto-proof majorities, passing social liberal legislation will be tough with these members as an obstacle.

It is not a surprise to see Salmon and Richardson on the list. They are in competitive elections this November, especially Salmon. Obviously they calculated that it would be better to support the law than to give a Republican challenger an issue on the right. The fear of their opponents running ads accusing them of wanting to let phony transgender sex offenders raid opposite sex bathrooms drove their votes. Also noteworthy is that two Democrats – Rep. Edward Hanes and Rep. Robert Reives – voted aye initially but later changed their votes to nay.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how this whole thing shakes out. Tempest in a teapot, or miscalculated overreach by Governor McCrory and the Republican legislature? If the latter, there’s no doubt Republicans will point to the 11 Democrats voting in favor as giving them bipartisan cover.

http://www.politicsnc.com/the-gang-of-11/