One of the most unique features of North Carolina’s government is just how many executive branch officials we elect compared to other states. This has its pros and its cons—I’ve talked before about how our long ballot leads to voter dropoff, for example—but one of its great strengths is the way it creates accountability.
For example, in a state like ours, where we elect our Treasurer and that Treasurer is the sole fiduciary of our state’s pension plan, then if voters are dissatisfied with how the pension plan is being managed, they have a relatively easy way to express that dissatisfaction: elect a new Treasurer. The chain of responsibility is clear and the buck stops with one person who answers directly to the people.
Which is why I was kind of shocked to learn that my Republican opponent wants to change that—but it’s true. He told Institutional Investor all the way back in February that he would work with our gerrymandered legislature to move us away from the sole fiduciary model and give it to an appointed board.
And, well, from the way that the GOP’s legislative leadership has spent the last few years taking every ounce of appointment power that they legally can away from the Governor, I think we can hazard a guess of who they’d put in charge of making appointments to govern the State Pension Plan given the opportunity: themselves.
That’s a problem when our legislature is so consistently gerrymandered that it seems like one court or another has to order us to redraw our maps nearly every single election cycle.
Gerrymandering insulates members of the legislature from the electoral accountability voters are able to exercise with members of the executive branch. We’ve seen that in sharp relief over the past few years as Republicans in Raleigh have rammed through wildly unpopular legislation with zero regard for the will of the people. The GOP doesn’t care because they’ve drawn themselves seats that mean they don’t have to—and the last thing we need is for them to hand themselves even more power.
But this is my opponent’s plan, and if we stop him, we can ensure that the Treasurer’s fiduciary responsibilities remain exactly where they are, in an office that’s accountable to voters, not the GOP’s legislative leadership.
But I’m counting on your support to get there. My opponent isn’t going to hold back in this race, so if we’re going to go toe-to-toe with him and come out on top, we need the resources to let every voter from Appalachia to the Atlantic know why he’s dangerous and how my campaign is a movement for opportunity, hope, and a better future for every North Carolinian. So can I ask you to please make a contribution of whatever you can afford? No donation is too small.
