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Letter from Phil Kirk

Governing Through Bipartisanship

Bipartisan co-operation has been mentioned over and over by the leadership in the executive and legislative branches in recent months.

This popular cry has the support of the general public, which has been asking for this from the leaders of both parties for the past several years.

Co-operation was not quite as necessary during much of the last century in North Carolina politics when the Democratic Party was the dominant power in all three branches of state government.

The election of two Republican governors, Jim Holshouser in 1972 and Jim Martin in 1984, and a Republican lieutenant governor, Jim Gardner in 1988, broke the Democrats’ monopoly in statewide offices and led the way to a Republican House of Representatives in Raleigh in 1994 and 1996.

The GOP also moved steadily to a 6-1 majority on the N.C. Supreme Court and won five of six races on the N.C. Court of Appeals last November. Each party has one U.S. Senate seat with senators Edwards and Dole in Washington. The Republicans hope to get the other seat next year with Congressman Richard Burr taking on either incumbent Sen. Edwards or another Democrat.

Incumbent Gov. Mike Easley is running for re-election with the Republicans expected to hold a hotly contested primary among several contenders. The GOP is also recruiting what they hope will be a strong ticket for Council of State. Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry became the first Republican elected to the Council of State in 100 years, other than the two top positions, in 2000.

Democrats in the legislature succeeded in removing the party labels from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races as they had previously done at the District Court and Superior Court levels. A better solution would have been to remove the judges from being elected to some type of appointment retention system.

All of this is to say that North Carolina is a true two-party state. While party registration does not automatically reflect how people vote, the Democrats have slipped to below 50 percent while the unaffiliated voters are gaining the fastest. Democrats have followed the Republicans’ lead in allowing unaffiliated voters to choose either party for participation in primary voting.

On the opening day of the 2003 session of the General Assembly, Republican State Senate Leader Patrick Ballantine, of New Hanover County, called for a spirit of bi-partisanship and co-operation in his opening speech. He persuaded all but two GOP Senators to vote for the certain re-election of Sen. Marc Basnight as Senate President Pro-Tem. The powerful Dare County Democrat responded by naming four Republican senators as chair or co-chair of Senate committees — a most unusual gesture.

Then a more historic happening occurred in the House. Election results produced a 61-59 Republican advantage until conservative Republican Mike Decker of Forsyth County switched parties in a major surprise.

After nine ballots failed to produce a Speaker, an overwhelming majority of the members voted for Co-Speakers, retaining the previous Speaker, Jim Black, Democrat from Mecklenburg and electing Richard Morgan, Republican from Moore County.

Since the two have an excellent working and personal relationship, many observers think this unique leadership arrangement may be more effective than if either party had elected a Speaker by one or two votes.

Gov. Easley, in his State of the State message, voiced the same call for bipartisan governing. “The prospect for bipartisan cooperation in both chambers has never been better. For that, I am grateful and excited about the opportunity to work with all of you, regardless of party. People do not know or care who makes progress — they just care that progress is made”.

The politicians and all North Carolinians will be beneficiaries of bi-partisan co-operation, and we hope it will continue and improve even more.


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