Democrats break Republican supermajority in North Carolina General Assembly

Democratic legislative candidates won enough seats in Tuesday’s election to break Republicans’ veto-proof majority in the North Carolina General Assembly, picking up some influence in the state’s legislative process.

Republicans currently hold 60% of the state’s legislative seats — meaning they hold a supermajority capable of overriding gubernatorial vetoes if they vote together. That has been important in recent months because Republicans control the legislature and the current governor, Roy Cooper, is a Democrat.

On Tuesday, Republicans won enough seats to keep a majority in the state Senate and state House of Representatives, but the GOP came up one seat short in the state House of Representatives to keep their supermajority.

First-term state Rep. Ken Fontenot, a Republican who represents Nash and Wilson counties, appeared to lose his reelection bid to Democrat Dante Pittman. With all precincts reported in the district, Pittman had 51% of the vote and Fontenot had 49%.

The development comes after Democrat Josh Stein defeated Republican Mark Robinson in the gubernatorial race Tuesday. Cooper is term-limited and can’t run again. It also comes a year after Republican legislators redrew the state’s election maps to give the GOP an advantage in more races.

The Democrats’ legislative gains, combined with Stein’s win, mean that Republicans will need support from Democrats to override the governor’s vetoes in the coming years.

Democrats hailed their victories as a rebuke of state laws that Republican legislators relied on their supermajority to pass. Over the past 18 months, the GOP has used its power to bypass Democrats and enact policy tightening abortion and immigration enforcement laws, sending more public funds to private schools, and limiting rights of transgender youth.

“For too long, the supermajority has operated without checks, pursuing extreme agendas that left too many North Carolinians behind,” House Minority Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, said in a statement.

“Tonight, voters made it clear that they want a government that prioritizes working families, access to quality education, affordable healthcare, and the safeguarding of our fundamental rights,” he said.

Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said the fact that Republicans have controlled the legislature since 2011 shows they’re still trusted by voters more than Democrats. Republicans will continue to hold more than 60% of the seats in the state Senate.

“Tonight's results affirm [voters’] continued support of the policies that make North Carolina the best state in the nation to live, work, and raise a family,” Berger said in a statement. "Republicans in the General Assembly will continue to honor that platform and work tirelessly for all North Carolinians.”

This is the third election cycle in a row that Democrats were able to prevent a Republican supermajority. Republicans gained a supermajority 18 months ago through unique circumstances.

After coming up one seat shy of a supermajority in the 2022 election, state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who won her Mecklenburg County district as a Democrat, left the party in 2023 and joined the GOP. She appeared to win reelection Tuesday night over Democrat Nicole Sidman in a race that drew millions of dollars of investment from both parties.

Abortion was a top issue for Democratic candidates on the campaign trail. Republican legislators last year replaced a law allowing abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy with one banning most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy.

Democrats warned voters that Republican leaders would pursue even tighter abortion laws — and they spent millions of dollars on campaign ads featuring statements by Robinson, the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee who lost by 14 percentage points Tuesday night

The ads featured Robinson’s comments during a Facebook Live stream in 2019, when he said women who get abortions were “not responsible enough to keep your skirt down.” They also featured Robinson’s comments during an appearance on a radio show in February 2023, when said that if he were governor and if the legislature were willing, he could sign a bill saying that people “can’t have an abortion for any reason.”

Fontenot defended Robinson. In a March 10 Facebook video, for instance, downplayed criticism of Robinson and referred to him as “a force to be reckoned with.”

State Rep. Frank Sossamon, who represents Granville and Vance counties, also appeared poised to lose. Democrat Bryan Cohn had 48.9% of the vote and Sossamon had 48.4% of the vote. The race results are close enough to qualify for a recount.

Sossamon continued to campaign with Robinson in the weeks before the election, even as other Republican candidates distanced themselves from the gubernatorial nominee.

Prior to the election, Republican leaders dismissed claims from Democrats that Robinson’s comments would affect legislative races. And in many competitive races, Democrats’ efforts fell short.

A statement by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, a third-party group, attributed the election results to Republican policy and didn’t mention Robinson.

“Republicans have wielded their toxic supermajorities to enact an extreme agenda — including an egregious abortion ban — that was wildly out of step,” said Heather Williams, the group’s president. “Newly elected Democrats will play a key role in holding Republicans accountable as we work together to eventually overcome the egregious gerrymandering and other structural barriers to true representation in North Carolina.”