VOLUME 5 ISSUE 39
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2020
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
Newby wins chief justice race, recount to begin Raleigh N.C. Associate Justice Paul Newby, a Republican who has served on the N.C. Supreme Court since 2004, led appointed incumbent Democrat Chief Justice Cheri Beasley by just under 400 votes out of 5.4 million votes cast. Most counties will begin recounts on Thursday, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. Counties must finish their recounts by Wednesday, Nov. 25. It is the first statewide recount since the 2016 state auditor’s race, which confirmed the result, according to the NCSBE. NSJ STAFF
VA recruiting volunteers for COVID-19 clinical trials Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is recruiting volunteers for COVID-19 clinical trials at more than 50 VA medical centers across the country. “VA is eager to play a role in this important endeavor,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Volunteering for our trials is a way people can help our country more quickly find vaccines and treatments to end the pandemic and get life back to normal.” VA’s volunteer list is open to Veterans and non-Veterans, 18 years old or older. The Durham and Salisbury VA medical centers are participating from North Carolina.
NASA TV VIA AP
SpaceX Dragon capsule docks at International Space Station In this frame grab from NASA TV, astronaut Shannon Walker, second from left, is greeted by astronaut Kate Rubins, left, as she enters the International Space Station after arriving from the SpaceX Dragon capsule, early Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. At right, Expedition 64 commander Sergey Ryzhikov hugs astronaut Victor Glover. Read more about the SpaceX launch on page B10.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
NSJ STAFF
Moore poised to win record-tying fourth term as N.C. speaker Raleigh Incoming North Carolina House Republicans in a meeting Monday formally backed Speaker Tim Moore to lead their chamber for another two years, a result of the GOP expanding their majority in the Nov. 3 election. Moore’s election as speaker would mean winning a recordtying fourth two-year term for the job. Rep. Liston Ramsey of Madison County was elected four times as speaker, serving from 1981 through 1988, as was Rep. Jim Black of Mecklenburg County, serving from 1999 through 2006. The fact that “we actually expanded our numbers shows that we have a mandate to continue the legislative leadership that we’ve had,” Moore said at a news conference at state GOP headquarters, where returning House Republicans met and approved his nomination by acclamation. “We’ll continue to do all we can to allow the ‘Old North State’ to be even greater.” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BioNTech scientist: Vaccine could halve virus transmission London One of the scientists behind the coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer said he was confident that it could halve the transmission of the virus, resulting in a “dramatic” curb of the virus’ spread. Professor Ugur Sahin, chief executive of Germany’s BioNTech, said it was “absolutely essential” to have a high vaccination rate before next autumn to ensure a return to normal life next winter. “Our goal is to deliver more than 300 million of vaccine doses until April next year, which could allow us to already start to make an impact,” Sahin said. “I’m very confident that transmission between people will be reduced by such a highly effective vaccine — maybe not 90% but maybe 50%,” he said. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
EXCLUSIVE
Mark Robinson discusses Lt. Gov. race win, plans for term Political newcomer rose from poverty to be NC’s first black Lt. Gov. By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s Republican lieutenant governor-elect, won big on Election Day, with 2,799,018 votes. The vote total is more than other top-of-the-ticket Republicans, like Donald Trump (with 2,756,899 votes), Thom Tillis (with 2,664,001) or Dan Forest (with 2,585,114 votes), received from Tar Heel voters. But Robinson is careful not to fault his fellow Republicans, saying they had to overcome fallout from the coronavirus and had longer political records to defend. In a Nov. 16 interview with North State Journal, Robinson also said the strong numbers were because he is an “outsider,” adding, “It’s what people are looking for these days. People are looking for fresh faces and new voices.” Robinson’s campaign manager, Conrad Pogorzelski III, told NSJ that this outsider’s sto-
ry, along with consistent messaging and a strong volunteer base, is what made the difference. During his campaign, Robinson frequently told the story of growing up in extreme poverty, and sometimes foster care, in a family with an abusive, alcoholic father and a mother trying to raise 10 children in Greensboro by herself. “I really hope people will look at me and say, ‘Here’s a guy that came from a poor family and came up working blue collar jobs — just an ordinary person who stepped up, and now he’s the second highest elected official in North Carolina. If he can do this, then doggone it, I can step out in faith and courage and do some things too.’” Robinson said being a visible example to those growing up in adversity is important to him, especially to young black people who may not have seen a lot of examples of people who look like them in prominent roles. He recalled how when he was young, he would go to the library a lot to read books about history and war, with special interest in stories about military heroes.
GERRY BROOME | AP PHOTO
North Carolina Lt. Gov-elect Mark Robinson is shown at his home in Colfax, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. Robinson will serve as North Carolina’s first black lieutenant governor. He hopes he can work with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and state lawmakers on veterans-related issues.
Cohen having ‘ongoing conversations’ with mayors about COVID ordinances By A.P. Dillon and Matt Mercer North State Journal RALEIGH — At a COVID-19 briefing on Nov. 12, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services secretary Mandy Cohen confirmed she was having “ongoing conversations” with mayors in the state about implementing stricter COVID-19 ordinances than the state’s current emergency orders. When asked if her office was pushing stricter ordinances in calls with mayors, Cohen confirmed, “We have had ongoing conversations throughout our time fighting COVID with our county and municipal leaders.” She confirmed that she and her office had “talked to mayors about it.” “We also said, look, there are local authorities they have what we don’t have at the state level that they could consider employing here. Some of them include things like giving themselves authority to impose civil penalties as opposed
to criminal penalties for violations of the executive order,” said Cohen. Cohen went on to say that the current state executive order “only allows for criminal penalties, but local ordinances could create civil penalties,” comparing it to getting a parking ticket. “It is a parking ticket version of a penalty,” Cohen said. She later added that certain cities and towns had been sharing “best practices” for dealing with businesses and COVID order compliance. The day before Cohen’s remarks, Gov. Roy Cooper issued a new executive order keeping the state in Phase 3, but reducing the indoor gathering limit from 25 to 10 people. Cooper stated during the briefing that the intent was to target Thanksgiving holiday gatherings. “What the governor has somehow forgotten is a thing called ‘My See NCDHHS, page A2
What did Democratic dark money buy in North Carolina’s 2020 election cycle? Wins for Republicans By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Historic levels of money poured into North Carolina elections this cycle, including money from a number of 501(c)4s, also known as “dark money” groups. But what results did that money buy? Based on the results, the answer seems to be Republican wins. 501(c)4s are called dark money groups because they are not required to disclose their donors. Democrats spent millions in state races this year that failed to translate into Democrat wins, especially at the state legislature. While Republicans did not recapture their veto-proof majorities in either chamber, they did maintain their majorities. The previous Republican majority was 65-55 in the House, and this cycle Republicans picked up four seats bringing their total to 69 of out of 120 seats. Democrats suffered a net loss of four seats, dropping their number of seats to 51. Democratic incumbents had a rough time, with House Reps. Sydney Batch (D-Wake), Scott Brewer (D-Stanly), Christy Clark (D-Mecklenburg), Ray Russell (D-Watauga) and Joe Sam Queen (D-Haywood) all losing their seats. In the Senate, the ratio had been 29-21 in favor of Republicans. DemSee WINS, page A2