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Column: Corruption in the General Assembly Must Be Rooted Out at the Ballot Box
Google “Corruption in NC Politics” and these headlines from national and state media appear:
“GOP Changes Weaken Elections and Ethics Oversight”;
“Corruption is Undermining NC Government”;
“Corruption, Gerrymandering, and Voter Suppression: How NC’s GOP Made a Great Big Mess”;
“North Carolina gets D grade in 2015 State Integrity Investigation”;
“North Carolina among the Nation’s More Politically Corrupt States”;
“A Wave of Scandals Hits North Carolina Republicans”; and
“Voter Fraud is Part of the GOP Playbook.”
North Carolina’s General Assembly cannot compete in scale with the Trump administration’s breathtaking corruption, but not for lack of effort.
Republicans in the state’s General Assembly majority realize that demographics do not favor them. And they are terrified. After being trounced in the 2012 elections, Republicans half-heartedly floated the possibility of courting minority voters to broaden their base. They resolved, instead, that cheating was easier than altering their DNA.
-snip-
And the corruption has names. Representative David Lewis, the Republican architect of the gerrymandered state and top lieutenant to Tim Moore, shamefacedly boasted that he drew his legislative map specifically to elect Republicans. This same David Lewis recently pleaded guilty to transferring $65,000 of N.C. GOP campaign money to his own account. He resigned from the General Assembly and faces jail time.
McCrae Dowless Jr., a Republican operative and convicted felon, was indicted on three felony charges of obstruction of justice, and two charges of possession of absentee ballots for directing workers to collect and mail in other people’s absentee ballots during the 2018 Republican congressional primary on behalf of GOP candidate Mark Harris. The election was nullified and Mark Harris dropped out of the race.
In May, a federal jury convicted Greg Lindberg (87 months prison time), a billionaire Republican donor, and his associate John Gray (30 months). They were convicted for attempting to funnel millions of dollars from campaign contributions to bribe Mike Causey, the state’s insurance commissioner, to influence the policies and operations of the NC Department of Insurance.
-snip-
A thorough cleansing of Republicans in the General Assembly is essential. - The Pilot
“GOP Changes Weaken Elections and Ethics Oversight”;
“Corruption is Undermining NC Government”;
“Corruption, Gerrymandering, and Voter Suppression: How NC’s GOP Made a Great Big Mess”;
“North Carolina gets D grade in 2015 State Integrity Investigation”;
“North Carolina among the Nation’s More Politically Corrupt States”;
“A Wave of Scandals Hits North Carolina Republicans”; and
“Voter Fraud is Part of the GOP Playbook.”
North Carolina’s General Assembly cannot compete in scale with the Trump administration’s breathtaking corruption, but not for lack of effort.
Republicans in the state’s General Assembly majority realize that demographics do not favor them. And they are terrified. After being trounced in the 2012 elections, Republicans half-heartedly floated the possibility of courting minority voters to broaden their base. They resolved, instead, that cheating was easier than altering their DNA.
-snip-
And the corruption has names. Representative David Lewis, the Republican architect of the gerrymandered state and top lieutenant to Tim Moore, shamefacedly boasted that he drew his legislative map specifically to elect Republicans. This same David Lewis recently pleaded guilty to transferring $65,000 of N.C. GOP campaign money to his own account. He resigned from the General Assembly and faces jail time.
McCrae Dowless Jr., a Republican operative and convicted felon, was indicted on three felony charges of obstruction of justice, and two charges of possession of absentee ballots for directing workers to collect and mail in other people’s absentee ballots during the 2018 Republican congressional primary on behalf of GOP candidate Mark Harris. The election was nullified and Mark Harris dropped out of the race.
In May, a federal jury convicted Greg Lindberg (87 months prison time), a billionaire Republican donor, and his associate John Gray (30 months). They were convicted for attempting to funnel millions of dollars from campaign contributions to bribe Mike Causey, the state’s insurance commissioner, to influence the policies and operations of the NC Department of Insurance.
-snip-
A thorough cleansing of Republicans in the General Assembly is essential. - The Pilot