North Carolina | Mary C. Curtis

Oct052017 TAGS: Gerrymandering, North Carolina, redistricting, Supreme Court, Wisconsin

Opinion: A Veteran Takes on a House Incumbent — and Other N.C. Political Tales

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Purplish-red North Carolina is hard to figure out. That may be why national eyes tend to watch local, state and federal races for clues of political trends, particularly whether or not the Donald Trump phenomenon is fading. Or perhaps it’s just the state’s unpredictability and the entertainment value of its outsize personalities who make news, even when they wish they had not.

Sep072017 TAGS: Congress, Democrats, House, North Carolina, Republicans

Opinion: A Partial Eclipse of Bad News

Celestial event didn’t blot out Confederate statue stain

Aug242017 TAGS: Confederate, Confederate statues, Democrats, Donald Trump, Eclipse, North Carolina, Republicans

NCAA Games and CLT

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC– Repealing House Bill Two is enough to bring NCAA games back to North Carolina, but Charlotte didn’t make the roster cut for tournament games past 2018. Raleigh, Greensboro, Cary and Winston-Salem will host dozens of NCAA tournaments from 2019 to 2022. WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in.

Apr192017 TAGS: Gov. Roy Cooper, HB2, LGBT equality, NCAA, North Carolina

Opinion: In North Carolina, the Good and Not-So-Good News

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s North Carolina, so, of course, the good news is followed by that pesky dark cloud every time.

You would think everyone in the state would welcome the end of the long saga over House Bill 2, the so-called bathroom bill, which was repealed recently in a compromise. That bill, which had compelled people to use the bathroom that corresponded to the gender on their birth certificates, also said cities could not follow Charlotte’s lead and enact their own anti-discrimination ordinances or a minimum wage and much more.

Apr132017 TAGS: bathroom bill, criminal justice reform, Democrats, Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina, race, Republicans, same-sex marriage

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Filed in N.C. House

Featured at WCCB Rising

A bill filed Tuesday by four North Carolina House Republicans would reinstate the ban on same-sex marriage, defying a 2015 Supreme Court ruling. The bill titled “Uphold Historical Marriage Act,” comes just two weeks after lawmakers repealed North Carolina’s HB2.

WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in.

Apr122017 TAGS: HB2, North Carolina, same-sex marriage

NCAA Deadline Looms, Confusion Over HB2 Repeal Efforts

Featured at WCCB Rising

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Another effort to craft legislation to get rid of North Carolina’s “bathroom’s bill” and halt more economic losses appears gone as Republicans and Democrats point fingers over whether an agreement ever existed. The GOP-controlled legislature and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper have been trying to find a way to repeal House Bill 2 before the NCAA decides to leave the state out of hosting championship events through 2022. The NCAA had mentioned a deadline this week. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said Tuesday evening that they had agreed to a plan from Cooper’s office that would repeal HB2 but include other provisions. Berger said Cooper backed out of that plan. The House Democratic leader said later there had been no formal offer and called the Republican leaders’ news conference a stunt because the GOP lacks the votes to pass a bill.

WCCB Political Contributor, Mary C. Curtis, weighs in.

Mar292017 TAGS: bathroom bill, Governor Pat McCrory, Governor Roy Cooper, HB2, LGBT equality, NBA, NCAA, North Carolina

“Charlotte Talks”: Friday News Round Up

Featured at WFAE

This week, the Charlotte City Council and County Commission both considered spending on a Major League Soccer stadium- with very different results. Former Governor Pat McCrory is heckled in Washington D.C. and South Carolina’s Nikki Haley is headed to New York. Host Mike Collins and our panel of reporters tackle those stories and more on the Charlotte Talks local news round up.

Read the rest atWFAE

Jan272017 TAGS: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, North Carolina, Pat McCrory, Washington, Women's March

Message from Charlotte: Revolution Starts at Home

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In this very blue city, in a state that went red for Donald Trump while sending a Democratic governor to the statehouse, a crowd estimated at more than 10,000 filled the streets at Saturday’s Women’s March. It was one of many across the country, sending a message that the story of Election 2016, far from being over, is just beginning.

The winding route took marchers — more than double in number than expected — past signposts of a region that has seen its share of divisions, but has made steady if shaky progress.