Corrupting influences

Published 11:30 a.m. Thursday

Republicans are telegraphing their intent to rig and steal elections in North Carolina. They’ve appointed an unabashed partisan warrior of oversee county boards of elections. Dallas Woodhouse has served as executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party and led several partisan organizations that targeted Democrats and supported Republicans in elections. He has no business anywhere near the board of elections, a body that is supposed to promote free and fair elections devoid of partisan advantage.

Dallas is a career political hack. He’s made his living advancing the Republican cause. I don’t begrudge him his vocation. I’ve done much the same thing for Democrats, but I would never expect to be appointed to a position at the state board of elections. My history should be disqualifying. Appointing Woodhouse sends a signal that State Auditor Dave Boliek sees controlling the state board of elections as a GOP political advantage, not the opportunity to insure that elections are unbiased.

I don’t believe Republican will concede elections in 2026. They will claim voter fraud and try to disqualify voters, just like they did in 2024. This time, they will have the state board of elections and the state Supreme Court backing them up.

Republicans like to justify their abuses of power with false equivalencies and whataboutism. Well, Democrats never appointed anybody to oversee county boards of elections who made their living electing Democrats. On the contrary, Democratic-controlled state boards of elections have held Democratic elected officials accountable. They have staffed the state board with professionals who understand elections and believed in democracy, even if they were registered Democrats.

Earlier this year, Republicans appointed Francis X. DeLuca to chair the state board of elections. He is a former Republican candidate for Congress and president of the conservative Civitas Institute. I know both Francis and Dallas. While I respect their conservative beliefs, nothing in their backgrounds indicates they would be nonpartisan or fair to Democrats. They will both look for partisan advantage to elect Republicans, just like they’ve done throughout their careers.

Republicans have put a political professional in a position to advise Republican-controlled county boards of elections on how to give GOP candidates an advantage. They are setting the stage to nullify Democratic wins and rig elections for Republicans. They control the legislature, the Supreme Court and the State board of elections and they have shown little respect for democracy. Let’s hope the federal courts are up for the challenge.