NC CONSERVATIVES ARE BACK TO FIGHTING SEX EDUCATION CLASSES: A proposal sponsored by conservative House members could change the way students receive health and sex education instruction in North Carolina schools. The state requires schools to offer sex education classes, but House Bill 196 would strike a provision requiring school systems to have an opt-out provision for students whose parents don't want their children to get the instruction. Instead, the bill would require schools to obtain parental permission before a child could attend the classes. The bill also would require parental consent for students to learn where contraception or abortion referral services can be obtained. Current law leaves it up to local school boards to set policies on how such information is provided. The bill's sponsors, Reps. Michael Speciale, R-Craven, Julia Howard, R-Davie, and Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, didn't respond to requests for comment Thursday.
https://www.wral.com/sex-ed-would-be-opt-in-not-opt-out-instruction-under-house-bill/18226327/

HARRIS BOWS OUT OF NC09 DO-OVER, ENDORSES "BOSS HOGG" COMMISSIONER: In Tuesday's letter, Harris said he and his family struggled with the decision of how to move forward before they agreed to put his health first. "I ... owe it to the citizens of the Ninth District to have someone at full strength during the new campaign," he said. "It is my hope that in the upcoming primary, a solid conservative leader will emerge to articulate the critical issues that face our nation." Harris threw his support behind Union County Commissioner Stony Rushing for the 9th District seat. Rushing hasn't yet declared himself a candidate. "His background and his experience have proven him to stand firm on so many of the issues that concern us, including the issue of life, our national security, and religious freedom. I hope that those who have stood with me will strongly consider getting behind Stony Rushing," he said.
https://www.wral.com/mark-harris-not-running-in-new-9th-district-election/18220178/

PAT MCCRORY TEASES RUN FOR 9TH DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL SEAT: On Monday at 8:15 a.m., former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory will make an announcement about the new election for the 9th congressional district. In a tweet on Sunday, McCrory said he will share his "personal status" on the election. The announcement will be made on his radio show on 1110 WBT AM. "Much has changed over the past week regarding the 9th congressional district," McCrory wrote. "I have received an enormous number of calls about it from friends, reporters, and political operatives from our state and Washington, D.C." The 9th district covers an area that stretches from Charlotte to Fayettevile. Last week, the Board of Elections voted to hold a new election, following allegations of election fraud involving the apparent winner, Mark Harris' campaign. On Friday, Democrat Dan McCready, who ran against Harris, said he will run for the seat again.
https://www.wral.com/former-gov-pat-mccrory-plans-announcement-on-9th-district-election/18215932/

JUDGE CITES ILLEGAL GERRYMANDERING IN VOTER ID AND TAX CAP AMENDMENT REVERSAL: “An illegally constituted General Assembly does not represent the people of North Carolina and is therefore not empowered to pass legislation that would amend the state’s constitution,” he wrote. When the legislature wrote the amendments and voted to place them on the 2018 ballot, many of the members who voted to do so had been elected under district lines that were ruled unconstitutional because they had been drawn to dilute the political power of African-American voters. “We are delighted that the acts of the previous majority, which came to power through the use of racially discriminatory maps, have been checked,” N.C. NAACP president Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman said in a press release after the ruling was issued. “The prior General Assembly’s attempt to use its ill-gotten power to enshrine a racist photo voter ID requirement in the state constitution was particularly egregious, and we applaud the court for invalidating these attempts at unconstitutional overreach.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226652589.html

MARK HARRIS' SON TESTIFIES HE REPEATEDLY WARNED FATHER ABOUT DOWLESS: The testimony from John Harris rebutted suggestions by Harris and his campaign that they’d seen no red flags about McCrae Dowless, who is now at the center of allegations into voting irregularities in the 9th Congressional District. John Harris’ dramatic testimony came on the third day of a hearing by North Carolina’s State Board of Elections that could decide the nation’s last unresolved congressional race and has drawn national attention — and it left his father in tears. “I love my dad and I love my mom,” John Harris said as his father cried. “I certainly have no vendetta against them, no family scores to settle, OK? I think they made mistakes in this process, and they certainly did things differently than I would have done them.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226492265.html