Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: veto override vote possibility; hear Kagan's dissent; GOP counter-convention; Tillis' sanctuary reaction; Confederate monument moves; a doctor for Warren County; and more.

Other WRAL Top Stories

GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019
DAWN VAUGHN: Senate might vote Monday to override Gov. Cooper’s budget veto (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Only one Democrat is needed to vote with all the Senate Republicans for the needed three-fifths to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto . Four Democrats voted for the budget — Sens. Floyd McKissick Jr., Don Davis, Ben Clark and Toby Fitch. Earlier this week McKissick said he would vote to sustain the governor’s veto of the budget. Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Wake County Democrat, tweeted Friday that he hopes the Senate’s Democrats stay “21 Strong,” meaning vote to sustain the veto.

Final showdown on state budget could come next week (AP reports) -- A final showdown on the vetoed state budget could come next week.

Senate set to vote on vetoed budget (WRAL-TV reports) -- The longest state budget impasse in at least 18 years could be coming to an end next week. State Senate leaders have added House Bill 966, the vetoed state budget, to their calendar for Monday at 7 p.m.

GERRYMANDERING
Hear Elena Kagan read her searing dissent in the N.C. partisan gerrymandering case (Slate Magazine) -- “For the first time ever,” Justice Elena Kagan declared on June 27, “this court refuses to remedy a constitutional violation because it thinks the task beyond judicial capabilities.” Kagan was reading a summary of her dissent in Rucho v. Common Cause, a 5–4 decision that barred federal courts from hearing partisan gerrymandering claims. Justices rarely read dissents from the bench. For the first time, hear her deliver her historic dissent. It is deeply compelling and, for the stoic justice, remarkably impassioned. At first, her voice is filled with righteous fury, but it soon shifts into profound sorrow as she nears the end. Her voice wavers as she delivers the final line: “With respect, but deep sadness, Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and I dissent.”

MELISSA BOUGHTON: Hofeller files will remain secret a little longer (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- A Wake County Superior Court judge has extended the confidentiality of the files of deceased GOP mapmaker Tom Hofeller. The confidentiality of the documents, known as the Hofeller files, was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, but Judge Vince Rozier entered an order Friday extending it to 11:59 p.m. Nov. 4.

POLICY & POLITICS
JIM MORRILL: Some NC Republicans plan a shadow convention in Charlotte — to oppose Trump (Charlotte Observer reports) -- If Andy Nilsson and Bob Orr have their way, they’ll be attending a Republican convention in Charlotte next summer. But not that Republican convention. They’d host the National Republican Convention, not to be confused with the Republican National Convention.

Tillis, Grassley Unveil New Bill In Immigration Fight With Sheriffs (WFAE-FM reports) -- In a continuation of his fight against Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden, N.C. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis today announced new legislation to make it easier for local enforcement to honor detainer requests from the federal government.

JIM MORRILL & BRIAN MURPHY: Tillis blasts ‘sanctuary’ policies of Mecklenburg sheriff, pushes new legislation (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Blasting what he called “reckless sanctuary policies,” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis announced a bill he said could encourage sheriffs in Mecklenburg County and elsewhere to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Tillis’ news conference came the same day immigration officials escalated their own battle with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. They said they’ve tried repeatedly to talk to the sheriff and his staff with no success.

Group sues to block Chatham County removing Confederate monument (AP reports) -- A pro-Confederate group wants judges to stop the removal of a monument stationed outside the Chatham County courthouse since 1907.

Confederate group sues to block removal of Chatham monument (WRAL-TV reports) -- The United Daughters of the Confederacy has filed suit to halt Chatham County's plans to remove a Confederate monument outside the county courthouse.

Microsoft to expand in Charlotte, add 430 jobs (WRAL-TV/TechWire reports) -- Microsoft Corp. plans a $23 million expansion of its Charlotte operations, creating 430 jobs. “The opportunity that we have to grow our base and our talent in North Carolina is an exciting one,” Reggie Isaac, Microsoft’s Charlotte campus director. said. “Microsoft is pleased to be empowering customers, partners and employees in the Charlotte area and looks forward to the prospects ahead.” Salaries for the new jobs will average up to $98,700, officials said, more than 30 percent higher than Mecklenburg County’s average of $66,700.

Microsoft expanding in N.C., will hire hundreds (AP reports) -- Microsoft Corp. is expanding its N.C. footprint by hiring new workers to build out its engineering and quantum computing businesses.

Trial in political bribery case postponed to 2020 (AP reports) -- A federal judge is postponing the bribery trial of an insurance magnate and two associates until two weeks before next year's primary elections.

K. SABEEL RAHMAN:  In a healthy democracy, power starts at the top — and the bottom (Washington Post review) -- The institutional changes won by the civil rights movement were undermined quickly by civil society mobilization among white citizens and traditionalists to oppose desegregation, leading to formal policy changes — such as privatization, defunding of the safety net and mass incarceration — that conservative policymakers used to roll back the more radical aspirations for equity. And much of today’s crisis of American democracy is very clearly a product of political elites’ deliberate dismantling of democratic checks and balances to retain power — whether in the White House, in the GOP Senate or in statehouses like North Carolina’s — with the active and mobilized support of key interest groups and civil society actors on the right.

CELIA RIVENBARK: Trump’s (South of the) Border policy (Wilmington Star-News column) -- Ever sausage a thing? Who needs South Florida when Dillon, S.C., is beckoning?

HEALTH
LEONEDA INGE: After Five Years, There's Finally A New Doctor In Warren County (WUNC-FM reports) -- People seeking health care in rural Warren County have waited a long time for good news. Now they're celebrating.