Countdown to 2024: Growing speculation over potential 2024 nominees
That’s the unofficial list of 2024 Presidential Candidate to date. Biden is still stalling and hasn’t officially announced yet. The Republicans have been pacing their announcements at about one a week so that they don’t step on each other. They’re showing up at state caucuses and GOP conventions. Trump, Pence, and DeSantis showed up Saturday at the NC GOP convention, and Biden showed up in Rocky Mount on Friday to tout a grant. Senator Tillis was censured for some votes. It probably will take at least several months after the official primaries next year before the candidates shake out. The assumption at this point appears to be that Biden may have the Democratic nomination locked up in spite of his low poll ratings.
Of course, most of the news focuses on the GOP front runner who is facing two indictments. The first one has an official trial date set for March ‘24. It is an untested notion that a candidate could not serve after a felony conviction. The right-wing media claim that it is another DOJ witch hunt. They’re also working hard to continue to discredit the FBI. A few of the GOP candidates have taken a head-on assault on Trump, but most have danced around making direct criticisms. They are afraid of alienating his large voter base.
The big surprise this week was the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court about how Alabama had violated the Voting Rights Act in redrawing the congressional maps. The Chief Justice made a distinction between Alabama and the cases involving North Carolina and Georgia. The ruling could have a significant impact on the gerrymandering of congressional district maps in other southern states. The issue of race also has been adjudicated before the North Carolina Supreme Court that reversed its decision after a new GOP majority was elected to the court. I have not read the ruling, but the media suggests that it could become a big issue. Of course, the Democrats and Republicans take opposite sides on the issue even though both parties use gerrymandering in drawing maps.
Locally, a new law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly changed the election laws for the Wake County Board of Commissioners. Voters in each of the seven districts in the future will vote only for the candidates running to represent the district they live in rather than voting for all commissioners like they do now. The board also will be expanded to nine members in 2026 with the two new members who will be elected at large. At present all commissioners are Democrats. The board also approved a 1.86-billion-dollar budget for the next fiscal year. This includes a $50 million increase for Wake County Public Schools System to bring the total to $644.2 million. It is the largest system in the state.
The NC State Budget has some proposals in process but no formal action yet. The General Assembly and the Governor came up with a compromise budget last year. We have been fortunate to have had a substantial budget surplus in recent years. Unfortunately, part of that has been the result that the General Assembly has failed to meet the level of school funding required by the State Constitution that says rural counties will receive a level of funding to provide equal education. Urban counties supplement state funding, which poor rural counties are unable to do.
We have 17 months of campaign ads to endure as well as noisy rallies before the federal elections in November 2024. So grin and bear it. If you’re a political animal, you’ll love it. If you’re like most of us, you will tolerate it as part of our democracy.
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