Thoughts on Dallas Woodhouse, the budget, and a new PPP poll

Published 2:47 p.m. today

By Alexander H. Jones

Dallas Woodhouse has always struck me as a kind of hyperpartisan survivor. He has been an influential player in state politics for decades. But his gigs never have much longevity. Woodhouse gets tabbed for one prominent GOP post after another and seems either to quit or be quietly defenestrated, only to reappear in another partisan role when another election cycle begins and the party needs him again.

In his latest role, Woodhouse was meant to be a sort of freelance enforcer. He worked for auditor-cum-electoral-overseer Dave Boliek as an “elections integrity” consultant. Little of what he did seems to have had anything to do with ensuring election integrity. Instead, as in so many other roles the partisan street-fighter has held, Woodhouse swooped in from his Raleigh perch to crush any institutional structures that might have allowed Democrats to vote in large numbers.

He was the chief voter suppressor. Now he’s gone.

I don’t quite understand why. Woodhouse’s role was never really hidden from public view. Informed observers knew his modus operandi. And he played the thuggish, hackish role he was given with the same zeal as ever—but not, notably, with any more aggression than he had exhibited as NCGOP Executive Director, campaign manager, or brawling intraparty combatant. He didn’t embarrass Boliek and, regardless, North Carolina Republicans are rather immune to embarrassment on the topic of suppressing Black, young, and Democratic votes.

My best guess is that the NCGOP has decided Woodhouse can better serve them in another role. I have no inside dish to support this theory. But Boliek seems to be firmly in command of the voter-suppression operation, with Woodhouse having contributed his thuggish energy to the effort and the rest of the autocracy machine freshly lubricated and ready to pounce. Woodhouse doesn’t stay in any given position for very long, but he doesn’t stay on the sidelines for very long either. Watch out for him before November comes.

Governor Stein signed the state budget into law last week. I think he made a sound decision. The budget gave little to teachers or state employees and poured a couple-million-more dollars into the right-wing “School of Civic Life and Leadership” promoting Trumpism and transphobia at my alma mater, UNC. But those provisions would be baked into any budget written by North Carolina Republicans.

What made this budget a meaningful step forward was present in its handling of tax cuts. Phil Berger must be heartbroken that he will not get to fulfill his dream of eliminating personal income taxes in our state. But this budget goes further to frustrate Berger’s crumbling ambitions than even I had realized. The budget halts the automatic tax cuts that Republicans had put in place until the 2030s. Income tax rates will not automatically fall based upon “revenue targets” devised years ago, without any foreknowledge of what state needs would be in the 2020s and 2030s. There will be one more tax cut next year, but otherwise the reduction in tax rates will be put on pause and revenue safeguarded for almost a decade. This is a genuine victory for Stein and other Democrats. I’m glad Stein stayed open to compromise while the budget was being negotiated and endorsed the flawed, but better, final product.

Finally, Public Policy Polling released a new survey of the US Senate race in North Carolina that deserves widespread attention. The poll shows a much smaller lead for Cooper than previous surveys by other pollsters, 48-44 instead of 50-43 or 48-34 or any other foretelling of a landslide. PPP’s poll is much more realistic than the polls showing Cooper with gaudy leads. North Carolina is a red-leaning battleground state that has elected Republicans in five straight Senate elections. Despite Whatley’s weakness and Cooper’s strength, the race was always bound to tighten instead of radically defying our state’s partisan fundamentals.

48-44. Hmmmmm. Cooper is below 50% in this poll, if only slightly. I think Republicans are demonstrably wrong to say that Roy Cooper has a “ceiling” of 49%. Cooper defeated Dan Forest 51.5% to 47% in 2020, running several points ahead of Joe Biden. He can clear the 50% mark. But the polls we’ve seen this year do tend to show Cooper with a little less than 50%, typically 49% or 48%. I think this reflects that Cooper still needs to lock down the support of a smattering of moderates and conservative independents who may be sympathetic to him, but not quite ready to send a Democrat to Washington. At the least, it shows that the Cooper campaign has more work to do to finish out this race. I don’t think Whatley has the appeal or the talent to win, at the end of the day. But statewide races are never a cakewalk in North Carolina, and it is useful for those of us on the left to be reminded of this fact.

See you soon.

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