Mailers from conservative group renew debate among NC Democrats over ideology, compromise
A conservative group with ties to Republicans is spending money on two Democrats who are facing primary challenges over their votes with the GOP on the budget and other major bills.
McClatchy obtained fliers mailed to voters in support of Reps. Cecil Brockman and Michael Wray that said they came from the Carolina Leadership Coalition. The fliers were first reported on last week by The High Point Enterprise.
The coalition is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization that espouses “limited government, free enterprise,” and empowering schools and parents to “do what’s best for each child.” In 2022, the group sent mailers attacking several Democrats running for the state House. In 2018, The News & Observer reported that two officials with the group at the time also had important roles with a political action committee that supports House Republicans, among other ties that drew a complaint from Democrats accusing the group of improperly coordinating with the House GOP and Speaker Tim Moore.
The latest mailers say that Brockman and Wray, who are among a small group of House Democrats who vote with the GOP majority much more often than most other members of their party, are “dedicated” public servants who have “achieved meaningful results” for their communities because they know “a good idea is good regardless of who came up with it.”
Among other things, the mailers say Brockman and Wray helped deliver “record investments in teacher pay and public schools.” Those are both issues over which the two Democrats faced criticism from within their party last year, after they joined three other House Democrats in voting for the GOP budget.
When it was unveiled in September, Democrats argued the budget had insufficient raises for teachers and state employees, and said the GOP’s enactment of universal school choice would take away critical funding from public schools.
Critics call Brockman and Wray ‘reliable’ GOP votes
Michael Luethy, a consultant for the Carolina Leadership Coalition, declined to comment when asked why the group was sending mailers in support of Brockman and Wray.
Critics of the two swing-vote Democrats said the group was supporting them because of their voting history.
Dorian Palmer, the president of the Young Democrats of North Carolina, said in a statement that the mailers were evidence that it’s not just his group that thinks Brockman and Wray are “reliable votes” for Republicans, but Republicans themselves.
YDNC, the youth arm of the N.C. Democratic Party, has endorsed James Adams and Rodney Pierce, the candidates trying to unseat Brockman and Wray in next month’s primary election.
In addition to their votes on the budget, Brockman and Wray also faced criticism for missing a vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of gun legislation that repealed the state’s permit requirement for buying handguns. Their absences, along with the absence of Rep. Tricia Cotham — who shortly thereafter switched parties and joined the House GOP — allowed Republicans to override the veto, at a time when the GOP was still one seat short of a supermajority in the House.
Brockman and Wray respond to criticism over mailers
In an interview, Brockman said he didn’t know anything about the mailers, but said that attacks on his willingness to work with Republicans to secure resources for his district were ignorant and “completely, 100% racist.” Brockman is Black; Wray is white.
“How ignorant do you have to be, to not understand that not every district in North Carolina where folks are going to have to run in, are super progressive districts,” Brockman said. “There actually might be a district out there that’s a moderate district, that Democrats like me and Michael Wray will do very well in.”
Responding to Democratic youth leaders in September, after they called him out for voting in favor of the budget, Brockman said he believed most North Carolinians “want politicians to stop bickering and work together to do what’s best for everybody.”
He also touted the $29 million in funds that were allocated in the budget for the “majority poor Black district” in and around High Point that he’s represented since 2015.
“Black people are not a monolith,” Brockman said. “You do not get to take Black people for granted and get them to vote Democratic just because it’s a Black district. Black people deserve districts who have representatives who will actually represent them, and actually fight for resources for that district.”
Wray, who has represented Northampton County and other northeastern counties since 2005, said in an email that he has a “strong record of supporting small businesses in his district,” and that he’s worked “very hard to bring needed resources” to his constituents.
“If outside groups want to highlight my record in this regard, I am delighted,” he said.
Adams and Pierce, the candidates running against Brockman and Wray, said in statements that the two Democratic lawmakers had acted against the wishes of their constituents, and argued that the fact Republicans were highlighting their support on key bills showed they were “out of touch” with voters in their districts.
Justin Cundall, a spokesperson for Adams, the former president of the High Point NAACP, said that Brockman was trying to “deflect” from his “poor performance while in office.” Pierce, an educator, criticized Wray for supporting the Republican budget that increased funding for private school vouchers, and ended income restrictions on them, despite opposition from local school officials.
This story was originally published February 21, 2024 at 9:00 AM.
