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RALEIGH, N.C. – Hurricane The waters of Florence were still on the streets of North Carolina when the dueling branches of the state government began to bicker about the consequences.
Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, requested Oct. 9 for a special session on storm recovery. The Republican leaders of the General Assembly wanted to return to Raleigh more than a week ago, on September 28th.
They agreed to split the difference and open the meeting on Tuesday. But few people bet that the momentum of business will last a long time.
Instead, the partisan rancor that ultimately shaped the state's policy in recent years should play a role in North Carolina's long-term reaction to the storm, which left at least 37 people dead. and provoked a panoply of troubles. And well beyond the extraordinary legislative session, there will be an election in the shadow of a storm that will determine whether Republicans retain anti veto supermajorities in the legislature.
"The currents will move below the surface," said Gary Pearce, a columnist who has long helped Jim Hunt, a Democrat who was North Carolina's oldest governor. "We can not take anything away from politics, and this state is so polarized, so politicized, and the last eight years have been so angry and bitter, that even in such a disaster, people will have a hard time putting it on next to."
Few state governments in America have been as divided in recent years as North Carolina, where Democrats and Republicans have regularly fought for problems such as: redistricting, voting rights, access to bathroom for transgender people, education and executive power.
And with a new set of challenges related to the storm, including nervousness Environmental hazards and tens of thousands of damaged homes and displaced residents, the most influential figures in the capital, are not yet in their hands. Instead, elected representatives of both sides publicly declared their desire for bipartisanship and consensus at the special session.
"It's important to me, and I think it's important to other members of the legislature and the executive, that the people who were devastated by this event do not see us as doing anything other than to help, "Phil Berger, the Republican Senate leader of the state, said in an interview in his narrow office overlooking Jones Street.
Berger, who will go a long way in setting the tone for the special session, has put forward a first set of proposals that, even Democratic lawmakers say, will garner widespread support, such as longer regulatory deadlines and more time for action. allocation of funds to pay teachers to be constituted.
The more difficult job of distributing storm recovery expenses will come later, when legislators have more comprehensive damage assessments from Mr. Cooper's administration. According to officials, these deliberations could be much more politicized, as lawmakers assess how much to spend and where to allocate those dollars.
"When a storm comes, it does not come with a party tag, and our response can not either," Cooper said in an interview Thursday. "I know that Democratic and Republican legislators have counties in their districts that have been completely devastated by this storm, and I think people expect us to go to Raleigh and agree on the best way to help them. They do not want us to argue about it all the time. "
Mr. Cooper stated that he chose to "remain optimistic" about the atmosphere of the post-storm recovery debate. But hard-line Democrats and Republicans are already showing signs that political tribalism may soon be interfering.
Republican Rep. David Lewis seemed to suggest in a widely circulated e-mail that one of the state's most important social justice groups was "exploiting the terrible natural disaster, which included the loss of lives and goods, to advance a political agenda. Darren G. Jackson, Democratic leader in the state House of Representatives, said he was unaware of his party's lawmakers who would have been asked to collaborate with Republicans on storm legislation.
"The camps do not have to talk to each other, so they do not," Jackson said at a country ham and butter bean lunch on Capitol Hill. "I do not think they will ask us for our opinion or ask us to co-sponsor their bills. But I do not think they are going to punch us either. "
A spokesman for the Speaker of the House, Tim Moore, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Moore, a Republican who has visited the quake-hit areas in recent weeks, said lawmakers were ready to make sure relief does not "reach where they are supposed to be" – a sign that Raleigh was already broken by the hurricane policy Florence.
The administration of Mr. Cooper has come under intense pressure and a major outcry over the way in which it handled the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in 2016. In August, frustrated Republicans Special Legislative Committee "to continue consideration of matters relating to the administration and management of the recovery efforts of Hurricane Matthew. "
Democrats, furious, saw in this initiative a partisan attack against Mr. Cooper, who took office only about three months after the storm that ravaged the state.
"I hope the executive has learned from the way things have been treated as a result of Matthew," said Senate Chief Berger. "A lot of the difficulties we've had with the executive branch have been philosophical differences. I hope we all share the same philosophy regarding the attempt to bring people's lives back to normal. "
South Carolina, the other state hardest hit by Florence, is almost certain to have more political ease with its recovery efforts. Governor Henry McMaster and the legislators who control the state legislature are all Republicans and do not seem to wake up every morning with their knives already honed, unlike their counterparts in Raleigh.
McMaster is on the November ballot, but Cooper's tenure in North Carolina is still two years and there are few prestigious state races this year. The main prizes at stake in November are the super majorities that Republicans hope to keep in the Legislative Building.
It is unclear how the devastation caused by the hurricane or Raleigh's machinations of recovery will tip the scales. The state allows the registration of voters the same day and absentee voting absentee, which can reduce the risk that residents displaced by the storm will not be able to vote.
Dozens of legislative races are perceived to be at least somewhat competitive, but there is only a handful in the counties that the hurricane hit the hardest. And political strategists and independent researchers said that the moment of the storm, more than seven weeks before polling day, could minimize its electoral consequences.
J. Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history at Catawba College in Salisbury, said that overall voter turnout in 2016 was only slightly lower in counties that received a federal disaster declaration after the Hurricane Matthew, a storm in early October, that's elsewhere in the state. . These counties also reported slightly higher rates of in-person voting.
But before coming to the elections, the state must first endure the extraordinary legislative session, a place that has proved particularly susceptible to controversy over the years. Mr. Berger stated that he would not be surprised if "outside groups were trying to either move forward on other agenda items or to accuse us of pushing points at the same time. Agenda of the day ".
But perhaps, said lawmakers, the state government will deny its twisted reputation this time.
"It gives us an opportunity to show people that there are things we can work on together," Berger said.
Morgan Jackson, Mr. Cooper's political advisor, said he was reserving his judgment. There were many others.
"The proof will be in the pudding," Jackson said. "Voters are hopeful – and they are watching."
Campbell Robertson provided a report from Pittsburgh.
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