The virulent new edge of NC authoritarianism
Published February 13, 2025
Republicans are escalating their campaign to impose authoritarian rule on North Carolina. The courts appear open to overturning a duly certified judicial election. Legislators, meanwhile, have passed a law so aggressive in stripping power from the opposing party that litigants contend it violates the separation of powers. This aggression is alarming, but it is not groundbreaking. The NCGOP is building on longstanding patterns of authoritarianism and sharpening to a virulent new point.
North Carolina Republican authoritarianism has always been exceptionally brazen. The Jones Street autocrats have shown a willingness to attack democracy with concern as to how their behavior will be perceived inside or outside the state. This bullying has sometimes been crude: At the height of the legislature’s punitive binge, one state Senator exclaimed, “I am the Senator. You are the citizen. You need to be quiet.” The theme that legislators deserve to be treated with meek deference by the people is on display in the GOP’s most recent outburst of autocracy.
A related tendency we are seeing today is the GOP’s penchant for breathtaking overreach. Throughout its era in power, the NCGOP has hinted at overreach, sown doubt that they were capable of the extremism being entertained, and then astonished the political class by pushing the limits of their power to the hilt. For example, Colin Powell himself once expressed disgust that North Carolina Republicans would pass the sweeping and draconian voter-ID law that was enacted in 2013. The sweep of the legislature’s recent sore-loser law is similarly extreme.
The GOP’s brazen overreach, then, is a familiar pathology. But the round of haymakers Phil Berger and Jefferson Griffin are launching at the battered corpus of our democracy also features a pernicious new excess. Republicans, in this case, are trying not merely to rig the outcomes of future elections but to nullify the decisions of North Carolina voters. The aforementioned “sore loser” law would leave Attorney General Jeff Jackson essentially devoid of any independent powers. In effect, the GOP is abolishing a constitutional office that a Democrat won last year by a solid margin.
The acid test of Republican gumption will come at the state Supreme Court. Failed candidate Jefferson Griffin is still intent on persuading the Newby Court to cancel the election that he lost to Democrat Allison Riggs. Three Republican justices have expressed a willingness to execute this coup d’Etat. North Carolinians will soon learn whether their legislature’s power to rig elections will make any future election irrelevant.
North Carolina Republican authoritarianism has always been exceptionally brazen. The Jones Street autocrats have shown a willingness to attack democracy with concern as to how their behavior will be perceived inside or outside the state. This bullying has sometimes been crude: At the height of the legislature’s punitive binge, one state Senator exclaimed, “I am the Senator. You are the citizen. You need to be quiet.” The theme that legislators deserve to be treated with meek deference by the people is on display in the GOP’s most recent outburst of autocracy.
A related tendency we are seeing today is the GOP’s penchant for breathtaking overreach. Throughout its era in power, the NCGOP has hinted at overreach, sown doubt that they were capable of the extremism being entertained, and then astonished the political class by pushing the limits of their power to the hilt. For example, Colin Powell himself once expressed disgust that North Carolina Republicans would pass the sweeping and draconian voter-ID law that was enacted in 2013. The sweep of the legislature’s recent sore-loser law is similarly extreme.
The GOP’s brazen overreach, then, is a familiar pathology. But the round of haymakers Phil Berger and Jefferson Griffin are launching at the battered corpus of our democracy also features a pernicious new excess. Republicans, in this case, are trying not merely to rig the outcomes of future elections but to nullify the decisions of North Carolina voters. The aforementioned “sore loser” law would leave Attorney General Jeff Jackson essentially devoid of any independent powers. In effect, the GOP is abolishing a constitutional office that a Democrat won last year by a solid margin.
The acid test of Republican gumption will come at the state Supreme Court. Failed candidate Jefferson Griffin is still intent on persuading the Newby Court to cancel the election that he lost to Democrat Allison Riggs. Three Republican justices have expressed a willingness to execute this coup d’Etat. North Carolinians will soon learn whether their legislature’s power to rig elections will make any future election irrelevant.
Alexander H. Jones is a Policy Analyst with Carolina Forward. He lives in Carrboro. Have feedback? Reach him at alex@carolinaforward.org.
