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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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