GAC Update - Febrary 6, 2026

Legislative Oversight Meetings

• Discussion of Medicaid, Involuntary Commitment, Justice and Public Safety 

• No substantive voting sessions until April

• All eyes on Primaries March 3rd- in particular, the Senator Phil Berger v Sam Page primary in Rockingham Co. Here are 26 primaries to watch. 

• IOLTA Funding- will not be resolved until likely June 

• State budget stalemate- also not likely until June 

College Democrats Sue NC State Board of Education

• A group of college students from three North Carolina universities — including the nation’s largest HBCU — filed a federal lawsuit against North Carolina election officials on Tuesday after the state rejected efforts to place early voting sites on their campuses. The lawsuit, which asks the court to order the restoration of the voting sites before early voting begins next month, accuses North Carolina’s Republican-led State Board of Elections of “targeted efforts to place additional, unnecessary, burdensome, and ultimately unjustifiable obstacles” on students.

• The litigation comes just weeks after the elections board voted against including on-campus early voting sites at Western Carolina University, UNC Greensboro and NC A&T State University. While all of those universities have hosted early voting sites in recent elections, WCU is the only campus to have had a site during the last comparable election: the 2022 primary. The state board’s Republicans, who outnumber Democrats 3 to 2, agreed with local Republican election officials from each county who argued that the campus sites were not practical due to cost, parking or geography. The vote prompted a brief protest from NC A&T students, who had come to the Raleigh meeting in support of early voting sites on the campus of the historically Black university. After students confronted board members with signs, Board Chair Francis De Luca threatened to call the police on them.

• The lawsuit contends that the board’s Republican majority ignored students’ pleas, “brushed aside urgent warnings that their decisions would disproportionately burden young and Black voters and denigrated students who advocated for their rights.” Asked for comment on the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the State Board of Elections said it was the agency’s policy not to comment on pending litigation. The news comes months after a massive restructuring of North Carolina’s state and local election boards, which flipped to Republican control last year for the first time in nearly a decade. 

Fundraising Numbers from US Senate Race

Former Gov. Roy Cooper dramatically outfundraised his competitors for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat. Cooper, a Democrat, brought in nearly $18 million since entering the race last July, according to campaign finance documents. He broke records when he raised $3.4 million during the first 24 hours of his campaign. After spending about $5.6 million, Cooper is left with $12.3 million in his war chest, a substantial haul ahead of what’s expected to be one of the country’s most competitive races in November.

• North Carolina will be in the spotlight as Democrats aim to flip a seat in a state that’s voted three times for President Donald Trump. With incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis opting not to seek reelection, the open seat has drawn plenty of attention and money. Democrats consider it one of their best pickup opportunities this election cycle. Campaign finance reports detailing fundraising and spending in 2025 were due at the Federal Elections Commission on Saturday. The state’s primary election will take place on March 3.

• On the GOP side, former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley raised about $5.2 million in 2025. The Trump-backed candidate spent approximately $1.5 million, leaving him with $3.7 million in cash on hand.