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March 3rd , 2024 Len’s Political Note #626 Elaine Marshall North Carolina Secretary of State
2024 General Election
Elaine Marshall is running for re-election. Again. She is 78 years old. (These days we have to note the age of older politicians.) She was first elected in 1996 defeating stock car racer Richard Petty.
Although the dominance has been precarious, other than the US Senate, Democrats have dominated statewide elected office in North Carolina. Let’s keep that dominance.
In 2000, as the 21st Century began in North Carolina, Democratic Governor Jim Hunt was being replaced by Democrat Mike Easley. He was replaced by Democrat Bev Perdue. The only interruption of this succession of Democratic governors was Republican one term governor Pat McCrory.
In 2000, as the 21st Century began in North Carolina, Democratic Lt. Governor (Lt. Governors are elected separately from Governors in this state) Bev Perdue was replacing Democratic Lt. Governor Dennis Wicker. She was replaced by Democrat Walter Dalton. An exception to Democratic dominance: A Republican was elected in 2012 and 2016. Another Republican, Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for Governor, was elected in 2020.
A century before 2000, in 1900, North Carolina elected Democrat Robert Gilmer Attorney General. Since then, every Attorney General, except for James Carson, who was appointed in 1974 and stepped down to run for the US Senate in 1975, has been a Democrat. Democratic attorneys general completed the transition of the Democratic Party as the party opposed to Reconstruction to the party of Civil Rights without losing an election for attorney general in North Carolina. Astonishing, really.
In 1875, Joseph Adolphus Engelhard led North Carolina to change its constitution to resist reconstruction. In 1876, he was the first post Civil War Democrat to be elected Secretary of State. Since his election, with the exception of a Populist elected to a single term in 1896, every North Carolina Secretary of State has been a Democrat. As with Attorneys General, Democratic Secretaries of State in North Carolina have made the transition from enforcing laws opposing Reconstruction to enforcing laws supporting Civil Rights. Unlike other states, though, the Secretary of State for North Carolina does not oversee voting – state and local boards of election do that.
While most of what Elaine Marshall oversees is routine and not controversial, there is potential, in the wrong hands, for controversy. Here is one with potential. The Secretary stores official copies of election results and arranges for the meeting of North Carolina’s presidential electors. A Trump afficionado would have the opportunity for mischief.
The Secretary keeps of official records of the General Assembly. Routine, of course – unless it is not.
The Secretary oversees corporations and registers legislative lobbyists. Routine, of course – unless it is not. The Secretary also investigates violations of lobbying laws. The maximum fine is only $5,000. But could the Secretary refuse to register someone as a lobbyist for violating lobbying laws?
The Secretary commissions notaries. Can’t get in trouble there, you would think.
During her decades as Secretary of State, except for two unsuccessful runs for the US Senate, Elaine Marshall did her routine job routinely. She maintained a Democratic presence in a state that usually elected Democrats statewide, but had a state legislature that was so gerrymandered, it could hobble the state executives elected by the people.
For Elaine Marshall, 2017 was not routine. The Republicans tried to impeach her. Republican State Rep Chris Millis led the charge. He had a news conference in March 2017 to announce he had found more than 320 people who had improperly been commissioned as notaries. Elaine Marshall, he said, should resign.
Millis claimed that among non-citizens commissioned as notaries were those protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival under the Obama administration. Elaine Marshall responded with the rough equivalent of “poppycock.” Keeping a sense of routine and normaliy, she sent her Deputy to explain.
Haley Hayes, the Deputy, explained the Secretary of State’s office accepts three kinds of documentation for non-citizens to qualify to be commissioned as notaries: permanent residency cards, employee authorization forms, and visas. They do not accept proof of temporary protection under DACA. He pointed to the 1984 US Supreme Court ruling that making citizenship a requirement to be commissioned as a notary was improper. They followed all state and federal guidelines. Michael Arnold, another senior member of the Secretary of State office explained that the Office had reviewed their practices with the state auditor and the state department of justice to be sure they were following state requirements.
In June of 2017, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted, exactly along party lines, to create a 15 person committee to investigate impeaching Elaine Marshall. The Charlotte Observer called the effort a “witch hunt.” Elaine Marshall was neither boring not mild after the committee vote. Addressing the Assembly, she described the process as an ambush. She insisted she would not resign, as Republicans called upon her to do. She said she was the first woman to be elected to an executive office in North Carolina and was not going to be the first woman to be impeached.
Ultimately, Representative Mills resigned. He wrote “My resignation is solely based on my need to be with my family more often and has nothing to do with any other assumptions that individuals may want to manufacture,”
The Democratic Party Chair responded: “Representative Millis has attacked, belittled, and dragged through the mud hardworking public servants, including Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, for no reason other than partisan politics… He’s pushed far-right policies that have made our state less safe, and we look forward to competing for his seat and bringing fresh representation to Pender and Columbus counties.”
The impeachment resolution was never brought before the full House of Representatives. It may have had an effect, though. Elaine Marshall was reelected in 2020 by a 51.2-48.8 margin – closer than any of her previous elections for Secretary of state.
Keep her in office. Three Republicans are looking to defeat her. The more solidly Democratic the North Carolina executive is, the more it is possible to provide some balance to a legislature and a judiciary that is overwhelmingly Republican. DONATE TO ELAINE MARSHALL.
Other North Carolina races
Governor
Attorney General Josh Stein is the overwhelming favorite to be the Democratic nominee for Governor. Can Democrats keep this as a Democratic office? Josh Stein built law and order credentials by focusing on on-line sexual predators and leading the law suit against the purveyors of opioids. His opponent will be Lt. Governor Mark Robinson – so much an extreme right figure, he is both dangerous and hard to take seriously enough for being how dangerous he would be in office. Earlier in February Axios reported that Josh Stein had $11.5 million for his campaign; Mark Robinson had $4.3 million. Keep that lead. DONATE TO JOSH STEIN. See Len’s Political Note #574
Attorney General
Congressman Jeff Jackson is the overwhelming favorite to be the Democratic nominee for Attorney General. Republican gerrymandering of Congressional seats made Jeff Jackson’s seat impossible for a Democrat to win. In Congress, he sought to eliminate poverty by increasing the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid, increasing support for affordable housing, and increasing support for K-12 and college and university education. His Republican opponent is Congressman Dan Bishop. As a State Senator, he led the effort to pass a bill to ensure that public bathrooms were used according to the gender appropriate to the birth gender of the users. Jeff Jackson had $1.8 million according to Axios’s report; Dan Bishop had $1.3 million. Help Jeff Jackson stay ahead in the money race and win the election. DONATE TO JEFF JACKSON. See Len’s Political Note #597
Secretary of State
Incumbent Secretary of State Elaine Marshall will be opposed by a county commissioner, a political consultant, or a health care executive. Chad Brown is running on his experience as a professional athlete; the other two appear to rely heavily on their religiosity. DONATE TO ELAINE MARSHALL.
Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, a former head of an activist civil rights legal organization, was appointed to the Court. In her obligatory run for election, she is opposed by Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin. Supporters describe him as having the experience to be the next conservative justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court – a court which currently has 5 Republicans to 2 Democrats. NC Newsline reports that Allison Riggs started 2024 with about $300,000 in campaign funds while Jefferson Griffin had $700,000. DONATE TO ALLISON RIGGS. She needs every dollar you can contribute See Len’s Political Note #594
