As my colleague Ward Clark previously reported, it was a significant day for North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly. Both the House and Senate managed to override Democrat Governor Josh Stein’s veto of HB 805, a bill that, among other things, formalizes the definitions of man and woman in state legislation.
Override #5 Is Done.
The NC House has just overridden HB 805. The highlights of HB 805 include:
✅ Stating only two sexes (male & female)
✅ No taxpayer funded gender transitions
✅ Parental control in schools and libraries #ncpol pic.twitter.com/SZHTr92nSh
— Rep. Brenden Jones (@BrendenJonesNC) July 29, 2025
The notable aspect here is that, in contrast to the Senate’s veto-proof supermajority, the House is missing one vote due to the 2024 elections. However, one House Democrat, Rep. Nasif Majeed, joined Republicans in overriding the veto, stating afterward, “I had some moral issues about that and I had to lean on my values.”
NC House Speaker Destin Hall has said the GOP would operate with a “functioning” supermajority — despite being 1 seat short.
He was right. Today, Republicans are overriding Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes with help from Democrats:
Carla Cunningham, Shelly Willingham, and Nasif Majeed. pic.twitter.com/ayPdAonoN2
— Andy Specht (@AndySpecht) July 29, 2025
House and Senate Democrats faced setbacks as seven more of Stein’s 14 vetoes were overridden on Tuesday, with support from a few of their Democratic colleagues, despite six other vetoes expected to be challenged later. Included among these were overrides that permit arming private school teachers and demand improved coordination between sheriffs’ offices and ICE:
The GOP succeeded with a gun-related veto override. House Bill 193 is now enacted, authorizing private schools to allow teachers, parents, or volunteers to carry firearms on campus, essentially serving as security personnel.
[…]
House Bill 318 is now a law mandating local sheriff’s offices to work more closely with federal mass deportation efforts. This law also obliges sheriffs to hold accused illegal immigrants for up to 48 hours beyond their typical release, a measure Gov. Stein argues is unconstitutional.
Rep. Carla Cunningham was the lone House Democrat to vote in favor of overriding the veto of HB 318. In her speech on the House floor, she occasionally sounded like a pro-border security Republican.
This led to members of the gallery attempting to shut her up, and at least one House Democrat, Deb Butler, tried to do the same. But House Speaker Destin Hall (R) cleared the way for Cunningham to continue:
The controversial moment Rep. Carla Cunningham, a democrat from Mecklenburg County, votes to override Gov. Stein’s veto on HB 318, an immigration enforcement law.
In her speech, she said: “It’s time to wake up.” #ncpol @WCNC pic.twitter.com/0KdSocw6XS
— Julie Kay (@JulieKayTV) July 29, 2025
Read excerpts from her speech below (it went on for roughly six minutes):
NC Democrat Carla Cunningham was interrupted twice — by an audience member and by a colleague — in a speech criticizing US immigration policy.
“All cultures are not equal.”
“Turn the conveyor belt off.”
She cast the deciding vote on a bill requiring sheriffs to work with ICE. pic.twitter.com/aO57bTPoRY
— Andy Specht (@AndySpecht) July 29, 2025
The full speech can be read here.
Predictably, some of her colleagues are already insinuating that Cunningham is a racist, but she’s used to it, having voted with Republicans on illegal immigration-related bills before.
All in all, it was a normal one for North Carolina Democrats on the whole who, this time around, have their colleagues – and not Republicans – to blame for losing. Again:
During a veto override vote in the General Assembly, Rep. Laura Budd (D-Mecklenburg) scolded colleagues to “stop thinking that somehow owning a gun and possessing a gun is a God-given right from the US or NC constitution. It is not! It is NOT a God-given right!”#NCpol #NCGA #2A
— Pete Kaliner (@PeteKaliner) July 29, 2025
Democrats totally crashing out in the North Carolina General Assembly over veto overrides. #ncpol #ncga pic.twitter.com/OfQsEfZTb6
— Nick Craig (@nicholasmcraig) July 29, 2025
Bless their hearts.
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