North Carolina voters unseated two dozen Republican state lawmakers in the 2026 midterms, shattering the Republican Party’s supermajority in the state Senate and returning control of the state House of Representatives to Democrats for the first time in more than a decade.
But these new lawmakers won’t be sworn in until January. The change in power that they will bring will therefore still be about two months away.
Meanwhile, Republicans still control large majorities in the state legislature. And they’re coming back to Raleigh next week for one last session to use that power before they lose it.
One of Republican House Speaker Destin Hall’s top priorities the week of Nov. 16 will be filling vacancies in state government. Legislative leaders appoint members of many committees, from minor boards to high-level positions such as members of public university boards of trustees. There are hundreds of such positions, and it’s unclear how many are vacant at the moment, but Hall and other Republicans will likely fill as many as they can before Democrats take control.
Money will also be a priority. The long-delayed state budget process concluded this year, with Republican Party leaders agreeing to a budget deal after the state went more than a year without a new budget. But while the House and Senate agreed on how to spend most of the state’s available funds — $34.37 billion, to be exact — they left $1 billion unspent.
Additional funds for Hurricane Helene relief will be considered, Hall spokeswoman Demi Dowdy said. So will additional funds for state agencies, many of which had to cut jobs as part of this year’s budget deal.
They are also expected to make some technical corrections to the budget passed in July, which could involve moving funds around or changing some of the policies adopted in the budget.
The presumptive new House speaker starting in January, Democratic Rep. Robert Reives, told reporters this week that he wants to strike deals with Republicans in the state Senate at the start of the 2027 session and strike bipartisan deals.
But we don’t know who he will negotiate with next year.
Senate leader Phil Berger lost election this year in the March primary. The next few weeks will therefore be his last in power. And a top Berger lieutenant who was considered a possible replacement, Wilmington Sen. Michael Lee, was among the Republicans ousted this month.
A question of numbers
One factor that could determine how aggressive Republican lawmakers will be in the upcoming session is how many of their members — many of whom just lost their re-election bids or were planning to retire anyway and did not seek re-election — whom they can convince to show up this fall around their vacation plans.
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein would likely veto any bill aimed at his power or that of the president’s office before Democrats take over the House.
Republicans still have a large veto-proof majority in the Senate, but only by a single vote. And Republicans don’t have a big majority in the House, but managed to override many of Stein’s vetoes anyway, with the help of three Democratic or former Democratic lawmakers who were all defeated in their primaries last March.
To successfully circumvent any hypothetical veto, it would require not only perfect participation from Republicans in the coming weeks, but also unanimous support, provided that all Democrats also show up for the vote.
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