The number of lawmakers with extensive legislative experience has dwindled quickly in the House and Senate chambers. Two years after 44 freshmen legislators arrived when Republicans took control of both chambers for the first time in 140 years, another 52 newcomers will arrive when the Legislature reconvenes to pick chamber leaders Jan. 9. When midterm replacements are added, 102 of the 170 legislators seated three years ago are now gone, according to the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. “In those legislators that won’t be back, a combined 652 years of institutional memory is lost,” said Ran Coble, the nonpartisan center’s executive director. “That’s huge.” Many newcomers said they don’t want to be confined to the traditional roles of the majority and minority parties, and are willing to reach across the aisle to reduce partisan fighting seen in the past two decades. This attitude also may be attributed to the recent increase in the number of people elected with local government and business experience – two areas where people don’t necessarily take sides based on political labels. “I’ve built great relationships with the Democrats and Republicans and unaffiliated voters, and that’s who I am and that’s how I come to Raleigh,” said Democratic Sen.-elect Gene McLaurin, the mayor of Rockingham for the past 15 years and an oil company president.
Republicans will hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers, and a Republican governor – Pat McCrory – will live in the Executive Mansion. “In the short run, this is a watershed year for the Republican Party,” Coble said, but in the long term “there’s a lot of room for new ideas and a lot of opportunities for new leadership.” Another small-town mayor, Republican Sen.-elect Jeff Tarte of Cornelius, said he looks forward to working with people like McLaurin. But the longtime health care consultant acknowledges harmony can only go as far as agreement on issues. “I hope we reach out, I hope we engage,” Tarte said. “But at the end of the day if you take a very extreme position on something the reality is the majority is going to vote the way it wants to.” The combined turnover following the 2010 and 2012 elections mark the most turnover over a two-cycle period since the 1992 and 1994 elections, according to data provided by Coble’s group.
The high levels are the result of GOP-penned redistricting maps favoring Republicans and forcing incumbent Democrats to step down or face each other in primaries. Veteran legislators like 16-term Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange, and 18-term Rep. Harold Brubaker, R-Randolph, retired while others died or left to run for other offices. More than 90 legislators will be in their first or second term when the new two-year session begins. Among the 29 new House Republicans are at least four engineers, a neurosurgeon, hospital president, company executives and small business owners. It counters a recent trend where lawyers and retirees were filling seats while business owners and people with young children stayed at home, unable to commit to long sessions that lasted through the summer.
Redistricting and other factors have increased the number of black lawmakers from the current 25 to 31. Black members now hold a majority of seats in both the Senate and House Democratic caucuses. People who have challenged the districts in court argue the new boundaries actually weaken the power of black votes overall by bundling them in majority-black districts. GOP leaders defend the districts as fair and legal. House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said he expects newcomers will make the legislative process more efficient. He expects most House members to switch over to following bills and amendments during floor debate by computer, not paper. Others will be less influenced by settling old scores with colleagues now gone. “Some institutional memory is good, but there’s also some muscle memory about the way this Legislature has worked in the past, that it’s probably good to move on,” Tillis said.
by
Gary D. Robertson,
(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
12/09/12
