North Carolina's next governor could have a more potent veto with even a small Democratic gain

North Carolina Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Stein's veto could become more effective than outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper's stamp has been recently, should the margin in a legislative district election hold for their party.

Results show Democrats winning 48 of the 120 state House seats in Tuesday's elections and leading a Republican incumbent in another race that remains close. Provisional ballots and some absentee ballots are still being counted. But if the advantage holds, Democrats would reach 49 seats — one higher than needed to end the Republicans' current veto-proof majority in the chamber when the next two-year session begins in January.

Since early 2023, Republicans have held exactly the three-fifths majorities needed in the House and the Senate to override Cooper's vetoes, helping them advance their conservative agenda largely at will on issues such as abortion, K-12 education and elections. Even with the outcome not fully settled, Democrats early Wednesday celebrated House results that they said are poised to help uphold vetoes of Stein, who decisively defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson on Tuesday.

"For too long, the supermajority has operated without checks, pursuing extreme agendas that left too many North Carolinians behind," said House Minority Leader Robert Reives of Chatham County.

GOP Rep. Destin Hall of Caldwell County — the choice of House Republicans to succeed House Speaker Tim Moore, who was elected to Congress on Tuesday — downplayed the potential net seat loss and said the dynamics wouldn't be much different compared to now. Republicans at times have been able to persuade Democrats to join them on overrides.

"I'm confident that we're going to have a working supermajority for all intents and purposes," Hall said at a news conference with Republican Senate leader Phil Berger on Wednesday. "I'm confident that we'll be able to pass the legislation that you've seen us pass in the same vein in the past."

Hall also said it was possible the supermajority would hold. In the potential deciding race, first-term GOP Rep. Frank Sossamon of Granville County on Wednesday trailed Democrat Bryan Cohn by fewer than 200 votes among 43,000 cast in a three-person race, according to unofficial results. The Associated Press has not called this race.

In the Senate, Republicans retained their supermajority Tuesday by winning the necessary 30 seats in the 50-seat chamber. Unofficial results show elections for two other Senate seats — in Wake and Mecklenburg counties — remain extremely close, with margins of fewer than 40 votes for each.

Since last year, Republicans have used veto overrides to enact more than two dozen bills, including measures limiting most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy; prohibiting gender-affirming medical treatments for youth; and limiting LGBTQ+ instruction in early grades. They've adjusted election laws and also took away any governor's ability to make appointments to boards and commissions.

Later this month, Republican leaders plan to consider an override of a vetoed measure that eliminates a large waitlist for private school vouchers and directs sheriffs to assist federal immigration agents seeking jail inmates.

Cooper, who leaves office at year's end, said Wednesday on X that "breaking the GOP supermajority in the state House will leverage good bills and help stop bad ones." Stein's campaign and Cooper raised or transferred millions of campaign dollars to help legislative candidates win.

Stein, a former state senator, said during his campaign that he would veto any bill that contains additional abortion restrictions. He said Wednesday that issues such as Hurricane Helene recovery, public safety and public schools are not partisan.

"We must come together across our differences and get to work," he said.

Berger said Wednesday that he expects the GOP's relationship with Stein to be similar to the one it had with Cooper, who found agreement with Republicans on things such as economic development.

"There likely will be other things where there's common ground," but "there's no question that from a philosophical standpoint, he's in a completely different place" than legislative Republicans, Berger said.

Nearly all of the vetoes since 2023 happened after Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County flipped to the Republican party, giving the GOP the necessary 72 seats to override Cooper's vetoes. Cotham, who was targeted electorally by Democrats, was leading her challenger Wednesday in a close race that the AP also has not called yet.