Party members and local residents gathered Tuesday night for a virtual Wake County Democratic Party town hall, where U.S. Representatives Deborah Ross and Valerie Foushee discussed the impact of new election rules, federal program cuts and the ongoing legal battles shaping North Carolina’s political landscape.
The event opened with an update from Cat Lawson, the party’s voter protection director and a professor at the Duke University School of Law, who described the “wild ride” of the Riggs-Griffin race — the only uncertified election from 2024 — and the confusion caused by recent legislative changes to the state’s election boards.
Lawson explained the significance of Senate Bill 382, a law passed in December that shifts control of the State Board of Elections from the governor to the Republican state auditor.
“Functionally, we shift from a democratically controlled majority on our state board and on all of our county boards to a Republican-controlled majority that is scheduled to go into effect May 1,” Lawson said.
Lawson also highlighted the challenges facing overseas voters, including international students.
“The Supreme Court invented a 30-day cure process for those folks, where they are now going to have to mail, fax or email a photocopy of their ID to their county board of elections in order for their vote to get counted.
Reps. Ross and Foushee took the floor with a message about the stakes for North Carolina and the nation.
“We’re doing everything that we can, and we know that you’re doing everything that you can, but we cannot stop,” Ross said. “We’ve got to continue to have our voices heard, to protest, to make sure that the Trump administration and unelected billionaire Elon Musk are being held accountable.”
Foushee echoed Ross’s urgency.
“We know that Trump and Musk have unleashed an all-out attack on the federal government, cutting and slashing wherever they can get away with it, from USAID to the Department of Education, this administration is indeed dismantling essential programs that impact hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, and we’ve seen that right here, particularly in my district, the fourth district,” Foushee said.
Both representatives described a sense of “inevitability” that they urged attendees to resist — an inevitability that changes from the current administration are being met without resistance from those who oppose them.
“With all of us, there has been this creation of a sense of inevitability that these things are happening and there is nothing that we can do about them,” Foushee said. “But I would suggest to you that that is not true, and that is why we continue to fight on all fronts.”
The town hall turned to the impact of federal budget cuts on North Carolinians, especially veterans, students and the elderly. Ross and Foushee described how cuts to the VA and Social Security are being implemented through “backdoor methods,” such as slashing jobs and delaying benefits.
On education, Ross praised Attorney General Jeff Jackson for joining key funding lawsuits but cautioned that significant successes could take time.
“Court cases take a long time, and there are casualties along the way, but the reason why they’ve gotten some of the immediate relief they’ve gotten is because it’s irreparable harm,” Ross said. “Basically, you cannot go back and fix it, so we have got to support those lawsuits that are very successful.”
Both representatives urged attendees to use every tool available to push back against unwanted changes from the federal government.
“My new thing that I say, and I took a screenshot of it that I keep it in my phone, is to use every single right that you have in the First Amendment, because those are rights that cannot be taken away from you,” Ross said.
Ross encouraged constituents to protest, petition and contact their representatives daily.
When asked about holding the Trump administration accountable for deportations, canceled student visas and other actions, Ross said Democrats are willing to do what they are capable of in a Republican-controlled legislature.
“We can bring articles of impeachment again, even if they are not accepted by Republicans in the Senate,” Ross said.
Foushee concluded with a call for continued vigilance and hope.
“America is already great, but maintaining that greatness is in peril right now, and so being able to join forces with people who believe that we indeed have the power to make this country what we want it to be, what we know it can be, what is should be for all of us,” Foushee said. “It’s good to be among you and to talk about how we do that and to encourage each other to not get that sense of inevitability that we cannot do anything about it, because, indeed we can.”
