Opinion Roundup: McCready withdraws amid probe, Medicaid fraud, remembering Pearl Harbor and more

Friday, Dec. 7, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Harris campaign owes $34K for disputed Bladen absentee effort, N.C. Republicans express increasing doubts on disputed election, McCready withdraws concession in congressional race, gerrymandering suit judicial panel named, UNCW announces largest gift in school’s history, remembering bravery of Pearl Harbor and more.

SYDNEY EMBER & ALAN BLINDER: N.C. Republican Owes $34,310 for Disputed Absentee Ballot and Turnout Work (New York Times reports) -- The congressional campaign of Mark Harris disclosed that it owed more than $34,000 in connection with an absentee ballot and voter turnout operation that has prompted fears of election fraud and called the N.C. Republican’s narrow victory into question.

TRAVIS FAIN: Harris campaign owes $34K for disputed Bladen absentee effort (WRAL-TV reports) -- Mark Harris' congressional campaign owes more than $34,000 for absentee turnout work to a consultant that contracted with a get-out-the-vote specialist in Bladen County who is at the center of an ongoing investigation into results in N.C.'s 9th Congressional District. The campaign showed several debts to Red Dome in its filing. Among them, one for "Reimbursement Payment for Bladen Absentee, Early Voting Poll Workers; Reimbursement Door to Door 9." The filing was first reported by The New York Times.

OTILLIA STEADMAN “I Don’t Vote” — But He Did. How Alleged Election Fraud Works In N.C. (BuzzFeed reports) -- Chris Eason is 47 years old, not registered to any political party, and worked in construction. “I just don’t vote. I don’t believe it.” But, technically, Eason does vote — he says he’s just not the guy casting the ballot. Eason told BuzzFeed News that he signed a blank absentee ballot in the now-contested Nov. 6 general election, didn’t actually pick any candidates, and then handed the unsealed ballot to the man at the center of an unfolding election fraud scandal, McCrae Dowless. Sure enough, public records show, his absentee ballot ended up signed, sealed, and witnessed to the county Board of Elections with Eason’s name on it.

AMY GARDNER & BETH REINHARD: GOP officials had early warnings of voting irregularities in N.C. (Washington Post reports) -- When GOP Rep. Robert Pittenger lost his primary by a narrow margin in May, he suspected something was amiss. The congressman turned to a group of friends and family who had gathered with him on election night at a steakhouse near Charlotte and blamed the “ballot stuffers in Bladen,” according to three people at the gathering.

JASON DEBRUYN: In Bladen County, Small Group Signed 300 Ballot Envelopes (WUNC-FM reports) -- In Bladen County, where elections officials are investigating potential elections tampering, a small group of 12 people attested as official witnesses for 294 mail-in ballots, or nearly 40 percent of mail-in ballots from Bladen County. What's more, the same group accounted for both of the required signatures for 151 of those ballots, according to a WUNC analysis of 796 mail-in-ballot envelopes from Bladen County.

SEAN SULLIVAN: Trump ally who served on voter integrity panel expresses concern about fraud in N.C. (Washington Post reports) -- Kris Kobach, an ally of President Trump who served on a voter integrity panel, expressed worry that Republican fraud might have tainted a N.C. congressional election, becoming one of the most prominent members of the GOP to publicly express alarm about the race.

ALAN BLINDER: N.C. Republicans Express Increasing Doubts on Disputed Election (New York Times reports) – N.C. Republicans expressed mounting doubts about a disputed congressional race that their candidate once seemed to have won, with one of the state party’s most influential figures saying a new election could be appropriate in the wake of fraud allegations.

ELIZABETH DIAS: Republican in Disputed North Carolina Race Is Favorite of Christian Right (New York Times reports) -- Religious leaders are rallying around Mark Harris, a pastor turned politician whose victory is under scrutiny as the state conducts an investigation into possible voter fraud.

ERIC BRADNER: N.C. GOP director open to new election in disputed House race (CNN reports) -- The executive director of the N.C. GOP says he supports a new election if allegations of fraud in the 9th Congressional District race are proven true and it impacted the outcome of the race. Dallas Woodhouse claimed he was so upset after watching CNN's coverage of the controversy last night, he vomited. “This has shaken us to the core," he said.

RUSTY JACOBS: NC GOP Chair Wants Public Hearing On 9th Congressional District Probe (WUNC-FM reports) -- State GOP Chair Dallas Woodhouse said he wants the state elections board to fully lay out the facts in its investigation of North Carolina's 9th Congressional District race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready.

DAVID A. GRAHAM: There’s a Persuasive Case of Election Fraud, Republicans Don’t Care (The Atlantic reports) -- In Bladen County, in the southeastern part of the state, McCrae Dowless, who had won a race for soil and water commissioner, alleged that “literally hundreds of fraudulent ballots” were cast in his race. When he was called before the North Carolina State Board of Elections to discuss his complaint, he was unable to answer specific questions about his allegations. More astonishingly, Dowless at one point deflected a question by invoking his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination—even though the board was hearing a complaint he himself had filed.

VALERIE BAUERLEIN & NATALIE ANDREWS: House Democrats May Not Seat N.C. Republican Until After Vote Probe (Wall Street Journal reports) -- Democratic leaders set to take the majority in the U.S. House next month said they may refuse to seat N.C. Republican Mark Harris until an investigation into alleged voting fraud in the election is resolved.

JENNIFER BENDERY: Pelosi On N.C. Election Fraud: We Can Refuse To Seat That Congressman (Huffington Post reports) -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said election officials in N.C. have a few options for responding to what appears to be an egregious case of election fraud in the state’s 9th Congressional District. Members of Congress have an option, too: They can refuse to seat the current leader of the race, Republican Mark Harris. “The House still retains the right to decide who is seated,” Pelosi told reporters. “Any member-elect can object to the seating and swearing-in of another member-elect. We’ll see how that goes.”

MAT VOLZ: Disputed House race puts spotlight on 'ballot harvesting' (AP reports) -- An investigation into whether political operatives in N.C. illegally collected and possibly stole absentee ballots in a still-undecided congressional race has drawn attention to a widespread but little-known political tool called ballot harvesting.

JOHN WAGNER: McCready withdraws concession in N.C. congressional race roiled by fraud accusations (Washington Post reports) -- Democrat Dan McCready withdrew his concession in a North Carolina congressional race that has been roiled by accusations of fraud.

GARY ROBERTSON & JONATHAN DREW: N.C. Democrat drops race concession amid probe (AP reports) -- The Democrat trailing in a N.C. congressional race withdrew his concession as state election officials investigated allegations of absentee ballot fraud. Dan McCready's reversal came as a top leader at the state's Republican Party said it would support a new election in the unresolved 9th Congressional District race if an investigation shows that wrongdoing swayed its outcome.

TRAVIS FAIN & MATTHEW BURNS: Democrat McCready withdraws concession in 9th District race (WRAL-TV reports) -- Amid growing suspicions of fraud in the 9th Congressional District race, Democrat Dan McCready withdrew his concession.

BRIAN MURPHY, TIM FUNK & PAUL SPECHT: ‘An innocent victim’: Amid election fraud claims, NC GOP defends Mark Harris (Charlotte Observer reports) — The executive director of NC’s Republican Party on Thursday defended GOP candidate Mark Harris as an “innocent victim” and downplayed a report that incumbent Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger’s campaign alerted the party to voting irregularities in Harris’ primary upset in May.

WILL DORAN & RASHAAN AYESH: Republicans want to end NC election fraud investigation. Here’s what they want to do instead (Charlotte Observer reports) — As evidence mounts that a NC Republican candidate for Congress may have benefited from an organized election fraud scheme in the 2018 midterm elections, other GOP politicians are now saying they believe Democrats have done the same thing and should also be investigated.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Voter ID (The Insider reports) --- As the voter ID bill heads to Gov. Roy Cooper's desk after a final Senate vote Thursday, Democrats are raising concerns about having the ID requirement in effect for a possible do-over election in the 9th Congressional District.

JOHN HAWLEY: GOP state Rep. Steinburg aide pleads guilty to larceny, must repay $25K (Elizabeth City Daily Advance reports) -- State Rep. Bob Steinburg's legislative assistant has pleaded guilty to stealing from her former employer, Pigman's Bar-B-Que in Dare County, District Attorney Andrew Womble.

LAUREN HORSCH: Gerrymandering suit judicial panel named (the Insider reports) -- N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin on Thursday named a three-judge panel to handle a lawsuit over legislative districts. Superior Court Judges Paul Ridgeway, Alma Hinton and Joseph Crosswhite will hear the case brought by the advocacy group Common Cause and other plaintiffs. Ridgeway is a Democrat from Wake County, Hinton is a Democrat from Halifax County, and Crosswhite is a Republican who serves Iredell and Alexander counties. The trio has served as the three-judge panel in previous redistricting cases. The lawsuit challenges all current House and Senate districts as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders under the state constitution.

RANDALL KERR: Former NCSU booster gets 18 months in prison for Medicaid fraud (WRAL-TV reports) -- A former N.C. State University football player accused of providing impermissible benefits to student-athletes was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison for federal bribery and money laundering charges in a Medicaid fraud scheme.

About Those GOP State ‘Coups’ (Wall Street Journal) — Perhaps they recall NC after 2016. Once Democratic Governor Roy Cooper won, Republican supermajorities in the Legislature began passing bills to dilute his authority. For instance, legislators wrote a law saying the Governor must get his cabinet picks confirmed by the state Senate. “Our state government can no longer be classified as a full democracy,” wailed a professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

MATTHEW BURNS: Wake fire station may get legislative reprieve after all (WRAL-TV reports) — A day after it appeared that a legislative proposal to protect a fire station in southern Wake County was dead, the House revived it Thursday morning and gave it preliminary approval.

JOE MARUSAK: ICE blasts Mecklenburg sheriff for ending controversial jail immigration program (Charlotte Observer reports) — Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden’s decision to end a jail immigration program “is an open invitation to aliens who commit criminal offenses,” an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday night.

ANALISA SORRELLS: Governor’s education commission discusses teacher preparation, recruitment (EdNC reports) — Leslie Winner opened Tuesday’s meeting of the Governor’s Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education by reviewing the Leandro definition of a competent, certified, well-trained teacher. In her remarks, Winner emphasized the high bar set by the latter portion of the definition that requires teachers to provide “differentiated, individualized instruction, assessment and remediation” to students.

FERREL GUILLORY: On school safety, legislators learn through listening (EdNC column) — -- In contrast to previous legislation that appeared with insufficient or no consultation with educators, the select committee’s listening seems to have had an effect on policymaking. At first, said Torbett, the committee heard proposals for “gadgets and gizmos.” But as its deliberations proceeded, he said, lawmakers turned more toward “the source of the problem: behavioral health and mental health.”

CHANTAL ALLAM: School of Science, Math alum makes multi-million dollar gift for artificial intelligence (WRAL TechWire reports) — For Carl Ryden, getting the chance to attend NC School of Science and Mathematics as a teenager was “life changing”. Almost 30 years later, he’s returned to the school to thank them for the opportunity – and donate a multi-million-dollar gift to the school.

CAMMIE BELLAMY: UNCW announces largest gift in school’s history (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- $10 million will allow creation of new business analytics school

ALEX GRANADOS: State Board approves ISD selection with caveats (EdNC reports) — The State Board of Education unanimously approved the selection of Carver Heights Elementary in Wayne County to join the Innovative School District today, but not without major caveats and a lot of reservations about the decision.

T. KEUNG HUI: NC lawmakers: Make schools safer by teaching about responsibility & controlling bleeding (Charlotte Observer reports) — In an age where fears of school violence are at an all-time high, some NC lawmakers want to address the problem by taking steps such as requiring students to learn about civic responsibility and how to stop bleeding in trauma situations.

ANN DOSS HELMS: CMS panel wrestles with poverty, race, school boundaries and opportunity gaps (Charlotte Observer reports) — By the end of their 90-minute meeting it wasn’t clear whether they’d stick with the plan to monitor school poverty trends. At issue is the quest to craft an equity policy to redress historic and ongoing educational disadvantages based on race, class and ethnicity. The board and its policy committee have been working on this task for more than a year.

JANE STANCILL: Put Silent Sam back. Send it to a farm. Dump it in a hog lagoon. — UNC’s mail ran the gamut (Durham Herald Sun reports) — In the flood of the public email to UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt about what to do with Silent Sam, two opposite themes emerged. People were adamant about their opinion, whatever it happened to be: Put the memorial statue back up, in accordance with state law, or ship the divisive artifact to a history museum, Civil War battlefield, cemetery, park or library.

ROSE HOBAN: Lawmakers Move to Reign in Inmate Drug Costs (NC Health News reports) — Changes to how the state’s prison system buys and administers medications for expensive conditions such as Hepatitis C could save the state money, but prison officials pushed back on some parts of the plan.

Remembering bravery, sacrifice of Pearl Harbor (Wilson Times) — In recognition of American troops’ bravery and sacrifice following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, The Wilson Times is republishing editorials written in the attack’s immediate aftermath.

JOHN HINTON: Girl Scout cookie manager stole from her Winston-Salem troop, police say (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- Winston-Salem police arrested a Kernersville woman after investigators accused her of stealing more than $7,000 from Girl Scout cookie sales.