Politics & Elections

It's fall. Halloween is just around the corner and the November election is not far behind. It therefore seems fitting for Candidate ME to delve into one of the true dark arts of campaigns, political advertising.

The fate of North Carolina's new legislative maps is now in the hands of a federal court. A ruling could come at any time.

But in a new twist in this long-running case, the judges signaled they may be willing to do something the plaintiffs explicitly did not ask for and state lawmakers do not want.

A panel of federal judges again heard arguments about race, redistricting and North Carolina’s legislative maps on Thursday.

But this time, not the old maps, but the new ones drawn up by the General Assembly in September. All Things Considered Host Mark Rumsey talks with WFAE’s Tom Bullock who was at the hearing.

There were a lot of surprises in a marathon special session by the General Assembly last night.

Closed-door meetings led to significant changes in election law, the budget and more.

Some things lawmakers said they would fix were not. Another thing surfaced which could make you wonder if clam is the new pork.

Morning Edition host Marshall Terry and WFAE reporter Tom Bullock discuss just what happened Thursday night in Raleigh.

The General Assembly gaveled in a special session Wednesday. Their first order of business: Overriding a veto of a bill which changes more than a dozen state environmental laws.

When he vetoed the bill, Governor Roy Cooper said the measure weakened protections from river pollutants and landfills.

"I have to disagree with the Governor's points," stated Republican Representative Larry Yarborough, who championed the override effort.

And truthfully there wasn’t much debate.

On Wednesday, state lawmakers will reconvene in Raleigh for yet another special legislative session.

If you're thinking these special sessions aren’t as special as they use to be, you're right. This is the third special session since lawmakers officially ended their regular session a few months ago.

Yes, Candidate ME was scheduled to be on a break. But then Tuesday, September 12 rolled around, the mayor was voted out, other incumbents were defeated and the Charlotte City Council changed in significant ways.

We're back with a full length episode. And since Tom can't be picked for jury duty for another two years, we'll remain back for the foreseeable future.

This week's episode is all about the race for the District 1 seat on Charlotte's city council. And what a race it is.

Republican leaders of the General Assembly have just one more week to finish and approve new district maps for the state. This by order of a federal court.