(CNN) North Carolina Republicans jumped out on a limb this week when they passed a controversial new abortion ban. Democrats are now rushing to see it through.
The decision of the state GOP legislative supermajority to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the measure sharpens the stakes for next year’s election — and gives Democrats new impetus to invest and get down on the North Carolina ballot.
At the top of the ticket, President Joe Biden’s campaign is already making plans to focus on the ban, which bans most abortions after 12 weeks, in its bid to win a state last captured by a the Democratic presidential candidate in 2008. Former President Donald Trump’s victory in 2020 was his narrowest election, and North Carolina is critical to any Republican path to the White House.
Shock waves from the brief but bitter abortion fight — 12 days that saw the bill passed, vetoed by Cooper, then resurrected by Republican lawmakers — are also expected to reach next year’s race for the governor, state attorney general and both legislative. rooms. With Cooper term-limited, the campaign to replace him is expected to be the most competitive governor’s race in 2024, potentially pitting far-right GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson vs. Democratic Attorney General and Cooper protégé Josh Stein.
The race to succeed Cooper, who for years has defeated the Republican agenda in North Carolina with his veto pen, will heat up even more if Robinson wins the Republican nomination. Democrats have already highlighted his absence from the legislature during abortion votes — arguing that he tried to distance himself from the ban. The Republican has tried to avoid public comment on the issue in recent weeks — a reversal from his usual posture — though he told a conservative radio host the day after being overruled by Republicans vetoed Cooper as North Carolina kept the “ball moving” on abortion. .
CNN’s review of past comments from the lieutenant governor shed light on his feelings on abortion. He once told a crowd that “these people who think that abortion, for good, is the right answer, have as many evil thoughts as the slave owners on the plantations. ” Robinson posted on Facebook in 2019 that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo “is pushing the satanic agenda of child sacrifice through abortion by claiming it advances ‘women’s rights,'” and, in a separate Facebook Live conversation, compared liberals to Nazis by saying, “The biggest way you see that is their rejection, because they don’t even consider life in the womb that life.”
Robinson also said that the word abortion itself was “sanitizing” and removing the “blood stain” from the procedure and, speaking of birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger and her contemporaries, he said, “I am not it would be a little surprising if they were not satanists, involved in witchcraft.”
Beyond the governor’s race, Democrats are now increasingly confident that they will replace Stein with one of their own and, despite the prospect of even more heavily gerrymandered maps, have a puncher’s chance end the worst of the worst in the GOP state.
Biden’s advisers told donors and top supporters that the Tarheel State was in play even before it was clear the anti-abortion measure would come up for a vote. Now, as Biden prepares to make abortion rights a central issue in his reelection campaign, an adviser to the president told CNN that North Carolina “is a place to strengthen and make another which is a clear opportunity to message what is at stake.”
Several Republican presidential candidates, on the other hand, support a stricter approach to abortion than North Carolina: former Vice President Mike Pence supports a total ban, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis implemented a state law to ban most abortions after six weeks and, among the many positions Trump has taken, all include support for more restrictions.
“I told (Biden) we were going to win North Carolina,” Cooper said in an interview. “The fact that President Trump is now taking credit for all the laws passed in every state because of his US Supreme Court that he appointed, that will make a real difference in November. … It will help us elect a Democratic governor, and I think it will help us break the supermajority in the legislature.
Cooper and other Democrats were quick to highlight squishy remarks from North Carolina’s Republican leaders about future plans to further restrict abortion rights. Pressed on the topic ahead of a state House vote this week, state Senate GOP leader Phil Berger demurred.
“This is where we are. I don’t see us going anywhere,” said Berger. “Who knows who will be in the General Assembly after the next election?”
Cooper told CNN that he believes Republicans will push for tougher laws if they win more power next year.
“The fires are lit for 2024,” he said. “I think (the Republicans) tried to avoid that by the secretive nature of how they approached it, writing it behind closed doors and passing it in 42 hours and then overriding the veto almost immediately that they got it from the governor’s office. because they want as few people as possible to see their dirty work.”
A new reality
Stein is currently unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Robinson must go through a GOP primary field that includes State Treasurer Dale Folwell and former US Rep. Mark Walker, who is expected to announce his candidacy on Saturday. But regardless of the results next year, the new abortion law will go into effect in North Carolina. And with state Republicans expected to draw their own more favorable legislative maps after a court decision last month cleared the way for new lines, GOP supermajorities in the legislature in the state could grow — limiting the power of any governor to make legislative changes, regardless of campaign trail rhetoric.
In an interview with CNN, Stein acknowledged that his power to influence abortion legislation as governor will be limited if the state’s Republicans retain their majority. But he also warned that electing a Republican to the job would lead to a tougher ban, either for six weeks or in full.
“There is a majority within the Republican caucus that wants to ban abortion,” Stein said. “But there isn’t a supermajority of Republicans who do.”
Berger effectively proved that point earlier this week, when he described the new law as a “compromise” and said some members may “want to push it on the strict side. “
As attorney general, Stein has been active in litigation to preserve access to medical abortion in the state, as part of proceedings connected to a larger national legal battle. But Stein said he has already ordered his staff to review the new ban and look for ways it might violate the state or U.S. Constitution.
The law is set to take effect at the beginning of July. Democrats and abortion rights advocates in the state House chamber for the override vote could only boo the result, some chanting “shame” as they were led outside by police.
On the floor, Democratic state Rep. Abe Jones issued a political warning.
“Rest assured, the storm is coming,” he told his Republican colleagues.
“When Democrats talk about abortion, we win. And when Republicans talk about it, they lose,” state Sen. Sydney Batch told CNN. “They hope that North Carolina women and North Carolinians will be forgotten by July of next year or November of next year. We’re not going to let them.”
Berger is skeptical that Democrats will parlay any backlash over election gains in 2024.
“I don’t know that they’re going to be more powerful or more funded by the abortion lobby than they were last year. And we saw what happened,” Berger said, noting that Republicans picked up seats in the legislature in state in 2022.
Those results, especially given legislative gains by Democrats in states across the country last year, and the possibility that even more GOP-friendly maps continue to rankle party officials in North Carolina and those focused on careers in the state.
“I think the Democratic Party is playing games,” said Gabrielle Chew of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democrats to the state legislative level. “They understand now that this is an important piece of the puzzle. And if we’re going to be strategic about making sure that we win elections so that we can put in place the policies that our communities want to see, we have to include the legislators in that state.”
Chew said Biden’s planned investment in the state will create a virtuous cycle that will benefit the DLCC and the president.
“These moments allow DLCC not only to raise funds to put more resources on the ground, but also help the president when he starts traveling and arriving in these states,” said Chew.
The North Carolina Democratic Party — now under new leadership in the form of 25-year-old activist Anderson Clayton — is already naming GOP legislative targets.
Clayton in a statement after the override vote accused state Sen. Michael Lee and state Reps. John Bradford, Ted Davis and Tricia Cotham for flip-flopping and betraying their constituents. Cotham, elected as a Democrat and strong supporter of abortion rights, recently switched parties and voted for the ban.
“In 2024, North Carolina Democrats will make sure every voter knows where their leaders stand on this issue,” Clayton said, “and will continue to fight to elect candidates who stand up for on reproductive freedom in North Carolina.”
CNN’s Em Steck and Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report.