NC governor-elect blasts GOP for failed HB2 repeal

North Carolina Gov.-elect Roy Cooper (D) blasted the state Republican Party for reneging on a deal to pass legislation that would have repealed the controversial “bathroom law” on Wednesday night.

“I am disappointed that Republican legislative leaders failed to live up to their promise to fully repeal House Bill 2,” Cooper said after the legislation was shot down Wednesday night.

{mosads}Leaders of the two parties apparently negotiated a deal to repeal the legislation in return for the Charlotte City Council repealing its own anti-discrimination ordinance that HB2 was originally intended to counteract.

So when the state senate adjourned Wednesday night after the repeal failed to pass, Democrats were outraged, arguing that the GOP failed to follow through on their end of the agreement, even as the city council of Charlotte voted to repeal their ordinance.

Outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory defended himself by saying that he had done his part by calling the special session.

“As promised, I called a Special Session to reconsider a manufactured political issue that strategically targeted the city of Charlotte and our state by well-funded left-wing interest groups,” McCrory said in a statement. “This was at least the third time that pressure from the left sabotaged bipartisan good faith agreements for political purposes.”

The repeal legislation apparently failed because rank-and-file Republicans failed to rally behind the deal that their leadership agreed to.

“The Republican legislative leaders have broken their word to me, and they have broken their trust with the people of North Carolina,” Cooper said.

“This was our best chance,” he added, “it cannot be our last chance.”