Legislative supermajorities are more than just a number for a party to feel good about. As the nation saw in Tennessee last week, a supermajority creates significant powers that go beyond what a simple majority possesses. Supermajorities grant near-uncheckable control for one party, giving a chance to almost entirely sideline a governor. And over the last month, Republicans have secured three more. Many state legislatures across the country have these veto-proof majorities, most of which are held by Republicans. GOP supermajorities in three more chambers have recently formed in states with Democratic governors: Louisiana and North Carolina lawmakers flipped parties, and Wisconsin after a special election to fill a vacant seat. In North Carolina, state House Republicans earned a veto-proof majority last week after state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who represents a district that favors Democrats, flipped her party affiliation. (Republicans secured a supermajority in the state Senate after November’s elections.) Top Democrats, including state House Democratic Leader Robert Reives and the state party chair, have called for her to resign. In an interview with Score, Reives said the supermajority doesn’t change the caucus’ priorities, but he’s concerned that “there'll be things that are enacted that are just not reflective of North Carolina, but are things that would be important to the partisans that participate in the process.” Reives said that Democrats are well-positioned to break the supermajority in future elections — although much of that is dependent on a looming redistricting fight, with Republicans poised to redraw the maps this summer, while the state Supreme Court looks eager to overturn a past ruling and clear the way for partisan gerrymandering. But, Reives argued, that could present unintended problems for the GOP. “When you're in a supermajority and you redraw maps, you’ve got a whole lot of incumbents you’ve got to protect,” he said. “In your attempt to protect those incumbents, you're going to have to weaken some incumbents.” Republicans celebrated their supermajority last week, but now it’s “back to work,” state House Republican Leader John Bell said in an interview. “Make no mistake, Democrats have always worked very hard to break a supermajority, and trying to break a majority, so that makes no difference,” he said. “We've always been able to put our best foot forward, put great candidates forward, and I would think that the general public would see nothing less in the next election.” Over in Wisconsin, Republican state Rep. Dan Knodl narrowly defeated Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin in a special state Senate election last week, granting Republicans a supermajority there that gives the party the ability to impeach state officials. Republicans do not currently have a supermajority in the state Assembly, meaning the party doesn't have power to override the governor's veto. State Senate Democratic Leader Melissa Agard also expressed confidence in being able to break the GOP supermajority in the future, pointing to liberal Janet Protasiewicz’s win on the state Supreme Court. The state’s legislative and congressional maps, which favor Republicans, are likely to come before the state’s high court, with its new liberal majority. Agard also said that the close margin of the special election in a Republican-leaning district was reassuring, and she’s hoping Democrats work off that momentum. “There’s a lot of people walking around feeling like there’s a chance that we may be able to save democracy in the state of Wisconsin,” she said. “That feels really bittersweet.” Welcome to Monday. Send tips and hot bagel takes to mfernandez@politico.com and @madfernandez616. Days until the Kentucky primary: 36 Days until the Mississippi primary: 120 Days until the Louisiana primary: 187 Days until the 2023 election: 211 Days until the 2024 election: 575
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment