North Carolina Democrats Propose Changes to Block GOP Power Transfers and Secrecy

The legislation, prompted in part by ProPublica’s reporting, aims to protect traditional powers of the state’s governor and reform oversight of its court system.

by Doug Bock Clark
June 5, 2026, 1:00 pm

Democratic lawmakers in North Carolina introduced a trio of constitutional amendments this week aimed at protecting traditional powers of the state’s governor and reforming oversight of its court system.

The effort was prompted in part by ProPublica’s reporting, including an investigation that found that over nearly a decade, Republican lawmakers had pushed through law after law shrinking the powers of North Carolina’s governor, always a Democrat during that time.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the bills’ sponsors readily acknowledged that the initiatives are unlikely to pass, at least in the current legislative session: Republicans hold majorities in North Carolina’s House and Senate.

But in proposing the measures as changes to the state constitution, the group of eight Democrats said their goal was to make them less vulnerable to the persistent partisan warfare that has engulfed the narrowly divided swing state.
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https://www.propublica.org/article/north-carolina-legislation-governor-power