Majeed not caucusing with either Democrats or GOP, for now, after party switch
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- State Rep. Nasif Majeed left the Democratic Party and is undecided on caucusing.
- Both Majeed and Carla Cunningham will finish their House terms as unaffiliated.
- Their departures create uncertainty for override votes against Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes.
After switching from the Democratic Party to unaffiliated earlier this week, state Rep. Nasif Majeed said he is not currently meeting with either party in the North Carolina legislature.
Majeed told The News & Observer on Wednesday that he is “indecisive at this point” on how he will caucus moving forward.
“I’m contemplating my moves and consulting with different people,” he said.
The NC Insider first reported that Majeed was undecided about how he would caucus.
State Rep. Carla Cunningham last week also left the Democrats to become unaffiliated. A spokesperson for Cunningham told The Charlotte Observer that she was unsure of how she will caucus for the rest of the year.
Majeed and Cunningham, who both represent areas of Charlotte, lost their primary elections in March. They will both finish out their terms in the House as unaffiliated.
House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican, told The N&O on Wednesday he has not had substantive discussions with either Majeed or Cunningham about which party they could caucus with through the end of the year.
“Obviously, that’s up to them, you know, what they decide to do,” he said. “We’ve really not had discussions yet about particular bills or any of those things.”
Veto overrides
Majeed and Cunningham’s absences in the Democratic Party also leave behind uncertainty for votes on whether to override Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes.
Stein, a Democrat, vetoed several bills last year. Some related to controversial topics among Democrats and Republicans, including eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and removing requirements to carry concealed handguns.
House GOP members are one vote short for an override and have at times had help from Democrats — including Majeed and Cunningham — to turn the tide. But they have not been able to override the vetoes on guns and DEI.
Majeed told The N&O on Wednesday that, regarding voting with Republicans to override any Stein vetoes this session, that he will “take it as it comes, as I’ve always taken it before.”
Part of the internal Democratic criticism toward Cunningham during her primary election included her votes alongside Republicans to override Stein vetoes, including on a bill to require local law enforcement agencies to have greater cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Similarly, Majeed faced backlash from the party during the primary election for voting last year to override Stein’s veto of a sexuality and religion bill that allows students to excuse themselves from lessons for religious purposes and bars state dollars from covering gender transitions for offenders in state prison.
Hall said Cunningham and Majeed “obviously think for themselves, which is why they voted on the opposite side of the governor a number of times.”
“And that doesn’t mean they’re just going to do whatever I want them to do, so we’ll see,” Hall said. “They’re here through the rest of the session and, I imagine, we’ll continue to talk with them.”
Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report.
