“I think it is the last gasp of a dying majority here. And every single one of those House members and state senators are going to be up for election next year along with me running for re-election for governor. And there will be a judgment day in North Carolina.”

— North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), quoted by the Raleigh News & Observer, on Republicans calling a surprise budget veto override vote with few Democrats present.

North Carolina State Board of Elections Chairman Robert Cordle resigned from the board Tuesday after he opened a statewide conference for hundreds of election officials Monday with a joke about cows and sex, WRAL reports.

The joke was republished by Wataugha Watch — and yes, it was completely inappropriate.

In a campaign speech, Justice Paul Newby (R) compared his six Democratic colleagues to freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “who has become something of a boogeyman for Republicans looking to highlight the national Democratic Party’s leftward shift,” WRAL reports.

Said Newby: “Imagine seven ‘AOCs’ on the state Supreme Court Well, folks, we got six. It’s six to one.”

He then took issue with those who complain about the United States: “If we’re as bad as the other side says we are, I will buy you a ticket to leave. I mean, just leave… We don’t build walls to keep you in. We’ve got to have a wall to keep you out if you’re trying to get here illegally.”

“For the first time in anyone’s memory, nearly all 170 state legislative races in North Carolina will feature both a Republican and Democratic candidate,” the Raleigh News and Observer reports.

“Candidate filing ended at noon Wednesday, leaving just one uncontested race for state House or state Senate after a heavy recruiting push from both the NC Democratic Party and the NC Republican Party.”

“North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature and its Democratic governor announced late Wednesday that they had reached an agreement to repeal the controversial state law that curbs legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and sets rules that affect transgender bathroom use in public buildings,” the New York Times reports.

“But gay rights advocates raised objections, arguing that the compromise would continue to allow discrimination. And it was unclear late Wednesday whether the deal, if approved, would end the boycotts by sports leagues, businesses and others that have harmed the state’s reputation and economy.”

Washington Post: “This week, lawmakers are facing a clear deadline imposed by the NCAA, which gave North Carolina until Thursday to change the law if it wants to host any college sports championships through 2022.”

“Despite Republican assurances that North Carolina’s ‘bathroom bill’ isn’t hurting the economy, the law limiting LGBT protections will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a dozen years,” according to an Associated Press analysis.

“Over the past year, North Carolina has suffered financial hits ranging from scuttled plans for a PayPal facility that would have added an estimated $2.66 billion to the state’s economy to a canceled Ringo Starr concert that deprived a town’s amphitheater of about $33,000 in revenue. The blows have landed in the state’s biggest cities as well as towns surrounding its flagship university, and from the mountains to the coast.”