Stein endorsed her opponent, then this NC lawmaker helped the GOP override his vetoes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Stein endorsed Rev. Rodney Sadler over Rep. Carla Cunningham in the March primary.
- Absences by Cunningham and Rep. Shelly Willingham helped Republicans override vetoes.
- The House overrode Gov. Stein’s vetoes on an immigration bill and three DEI bills.
Good morning and welcome to our Under the Dome newsletter focusing on the governor. I’m democracy reporter Kyle Ingram, filling in for Capitol bureau chief Dawn Vaughan. Let’s go.
When Democratic Gov. Josh Stein waded into a contentious primary election this year, he was likely motivated by the incumbent’s history of siding with Republicans to override gubernatorial vetoes.
Rep. Carla Cunningham, a seven-term Charlotte-area Democrat, most notably cast the decisive vote to overturn Stein’s veto of House Bill 318, a bill requiring North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Her vote, and her heated debate remarks in which she said “all cultures are not equal,” drew severe backlash from fellow Democrats.
With Stein’s endorsement, Rev. Rodney Sadler handily beat Cunningham in the March primary.
But now, Cunningham — who has since switched her party registration to unaffiliated — appears to be using her final months in office to once again stifle the governor’s ability to sustain his vetoes.
On Wednesday, House Republicans suddenly decided to take a vote on four veto overrides that had been quietly hanging on the calendar for months.
Notably absent from the chamber that day was Cunningham — who had been at the legislative building just hours before for a committee hearing.
Her absence, alongside another moderate Democrat who lost his primary, Rep. Shelly Willingham, gave Republicans the numbers they needed to successfully override Stein’s vetoes on an immigration enforcement bill and three bills targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Cunningham herself said last year that the immigration bill in question, which requires state agencies to carry out some immigration enforcement usually done by federal agents, goes too far.
“Today I’m going to draw a line in the sand,” she said when the bill first came to the House in 2025. “... I want ICE to get to people in my communities that are devastating us, breaking in and smuggling drugs. Yes, I still want that. But I don’t want innocent people to get hurt.”
That bill is now law thanks, in part, to her absence this week.
Neither Cunningham nor Willingham responded to requests for comment.
Asked if he reached an agreement with the two lawmakers for them to skip the vote, House Speaker Destin Hall told The News & Observer on Wednesday that he would not comment on discussions he has with House members.
“All I know is I got on the dais today and saw we had the votes,” he said. “As I’ve said the whole session, whenever we have the votes on an override, we’re going to take them up. So, we weren’t hiding the ball, and today was the day.”
Stein denounced the overrides in a statement shortly after the vote, but did not name Cunningham or Willingham.
“Members of the General Assembly are stoking the culture wars that divide us rather than fulfilling their long-overdue responsibility of passing a budget,” he said. “... Instead, they are overriding my veto on bills to whitewash the diversity that makes our state strong and to take state law enforcement officers away from their existing state duties, forcing them to act as federal immigration agents.”
Cunningham and Willingham’s terms expire at the end of this year.
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- New NC law tightens campus DEI bans, placing new limits on ‘divisive concepts’
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- Advocates warn of AI data centers’ harm to water quality at NC legislature
Thanks for reading. Be sure to listen to our Under the Dome podcast, too. New episodes come out every Tuesday. You can reach me at kingram@newsobserver.com or our entire politics team at dome@newsobserver.com.
