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Sign up today at brilliant.org/slash tutor and get 20% off. That's brilliant.org/slash tutor. It's 505 and welcome in to a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. On Friday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted 3-2 along party lines during a meeting to approve revised numbered memos guiding county election officials on how to handle the return of absentee ballots.
Those absentee ballots were sent out around noon on Friday. That vote came as those county boards were going through the process of sending out those absentee ballots, North Carolina having the longest absentee by mail balloting period in the United States. The numbered memo deals with the governing absentee ballot deficiencies, the cure process, spoil and reissue process. Procedures and the in-person return of absentee ballots. The biggest thing from that meeting that is getting attention across North Carolina is dealing with unsealed envelopes.
Under one of the memos, again, voted three to two party line by the state board of election on Friday, county officials in North Carolina now must disqualify any mail and ballot returned in an unsealed envelope. For example, if an outer envelope is sealed but an inner envelope is unsealed, the vote will not count in an attempt to provide election integrity measures. Adam Steele, Associate General Counsel for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said that state law requires the board to provide counties, all 100, with procedural safeguards for processing returned absentee ballots. And the law says that the board can do that by either instruction or through the rulemaking process. While a lot of media reports across North Carolina, Carolina indicates that these rules are brand new.
The board had already issued a revised ruling in February saying some of the guidance of the memos needed to be changed. The board adopted the rules back in July and they were approved unanimously by the Rules Review Commission last month.
However, due to 10 objections that were received to the rules predominantly by left-wing groups in North Carolina, it triggered those rules to go through legislative review, which delayed the effective date.
However, according to Steele, procedural safeguards still need to be put in place for county boards, and those boards still need to have that guidance. Democrat member in Siobhan Millen remarked that the current board is more fond of rules than numbered memos and that the rules process has some hurdles. As she said during the Friday meeting, we're doing an end run around the process that we said we wanted to do in revising the numbered memos. Fellow Democrat member Jeff Carmen was in agreement with her saying Member Millen, you stole my thunder. That was the point that I have struggled with.
You are absolutely correct with everything you have said previously. And so I'm shocked that we're going to go with the rule process. And because the rule process isn't working according to the perceived plan, now we're going to go back to a numbered memo.
So if you're going to go back to a memo, what are we doing here? Millen stated that while some of it is putting the numbered memos in alignment with the rules, some of it is sneaking in a whole new process about spoiling and reissues and changes that were kept from the public until early Friday morning. Millen said during the meeting, the legislature has clarified that their recent legislation that goes into effect January the 1st, 2027, but we're saying let's get a jump start on what the legislature requires and put in a numbered memo. And by the way, this all was public on our website at 7.09 Friday morning. What memos are we talking about that did not reach the public until 7 o'clock this morning?
I do not understand the need for secrecy. She would later ask what the point was for legislative review if the board was going to just, quote, rubber stamp the changes.
However, Brian Levecki, chief of staff for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, did point out that if the General Assembly does nothing after 45 days at their next regular session, the reviews automatically become permanent anyway. As Republican member and Secretary Stacey Foragers commented that after serving on the board with both Millen and Jeff Carmen for a number of years, he was quote somewhat amused that they said that a legislative review needed to be done before any action was taken. As this meeting, which didn't last all that long, about 30 minutes or so, was very pointed at some periods of time. Member Agers said, Mr. Chair, previous to this, the board, and previous to you becoming the chair, there was no attempt to utilize a rules process with the Rules Review Commission, and everything we did.
was by numbered memos now we've come a long way with that because it just started as executive fiat by the executive director and has gone to this board but i would remind my colleagues that we received a declaratory ruling request ultimately we have to revisit that we made a decision on that and we gave updated guidance on what that means under that ruling We drafted a set of those rules that do reflect our decision in the ruling and those pass this board. Eggers said that the numbered memos and former rules both have a role, that the updated memo would provide consistency, I should say, between state law and the board's previous rulings and that the permanent rules that would go on to be adopted by the Review Rules Commission. He also added that while he anticipates the memos to become the permanent rules, he stressed that the rules will not change what voters experience when casting their ballots and that the numbered memo Are simply updated guidance for the local county board of elections, something that board director Sam Hayes talked about in a press conference held Thursday of last week. Republican member Angela Hawkins added that counties would have needed detailed guidance even if the permanent rules had already taken effect because the rules themselves do not spell out the procedural process that election workers must follow in the process of carrying out absentee by mail voting. With board member Millen continuing to argue against the action, saying that contrary to what Hayes said at the press conference and what Ager said, the action does in fact affect voters.
Millen, in a passionate plea, said, it may not affect you as you're filling it out, but it affects whether or not your ballot counts, and that's huge.
So to say that this is just a process thing is incorrect. I think people do care. Not just whether they sent a ballot in, but whether it ended up counting. And so what the main dispute to me is, is whether or not you send the ballot back in the inner envelope. And if you don't seal it, but you seal the outer envelope, whether they will count it was pretty much automatically before.
But now that is not going to be the case. We're going to spoil it and return it, questioning how many people that affects. Hawkins responded to Millen, stating that the decision to seal the ballots in the container return envelope was in fact made by the North Carolina General Assembly and will in fact become law January the 1st, 2027 and what is stated in the law about who brings the ballots back to a county board of election office. With Hawkins saying, all we're doing is following what is in general statute. We don't make the law here.
Our job is to put in the format that our counties and our directors and our staff across the state follow and the citizens can understand. That's our job and we've already litigated that and talked about all of those issues in the rules. I don't understand while we're still discussing the merits or reasons as to why what we did in the month of July. Board Member Agers also added that the delivery of ballots, that is a ballot security issue, to make sure that voters' will and intent is being followed. One of the other rules that were discussed and voted on 3-2 did deal with who is actually allowed to return an absentee by mail ballot.
Hayes once again reiterated a few points from Thursday's press conference, including that there is no longer a post-election day grace period for absentee ballots, which has been the case now for the past couple of election cycles, and they must be in the hands of county board of election officials by 7.30 p.m. on election day. That is November the 3rd. Any ballots that are received later than that period of time will not count. He also encouraged voters to mail ballots back as early as possible.
Use an in-person early voting site to return them or take them to the County Board of Elections on Election Day if they are concerned about mail delivery. If people are concerned about the new process, they can visit the board's website and find a voting tab that explains the absentee ballot process, including a couple of videos associated alongside that. The state of North Carolina also incorporates what is called ballot tracks, B-A-L-L-O-T-T-R-A-X, a process which allows you as somebody that votes by absentee by mail to determine whether your ballot was received by your local county board of election. The absentee process is now on here in North Carolina. The governor not happy with the meeting with the state board of election on Friday, taking the social media saying, today the state board of elections approved new ways for mail-in ballots to be rejected on technicalities, including changes that have been put on hold by state law after I joined a number of other North Carolinians in objecting to them.
The state's board decision is a slap in the face to voters who stood up to these changes in a blanket way to circumvent the law. North Carolina voters deserve transparency in their elections, not last-minute workarounds that could keep their voice from counting. I will continue to stand up for voters' access to the ballot box. It's pretty plain and simple. If you are going to be voting absentee by mail, you will be required to seal all of the envelopes, both the inner and outer envelope, to make sure that your ballot counts.
We will have continuing coverage of the absentee by mail period. Only 10 votes have been cast in North Carolina thus far, with ballots going out noon on Friday. We will be keeping a very close eye on that as we continue this sprint towards the November the 3rd midterm election. We'll be chatting with folks like Dr. Andy Jackson and other members of the John Locke Foundation and Carolina Journal team frequently over the next couple of weeks as we watch this process play out.
More discussions of these rules over on our website this morning. CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline NCS. SBE approves new absentee ballot guidance in three to two vote. It's 521.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT North Carolina Medicaid recorded more than $47 million in claims for GLP-1 medications used for weight loss in June alone, covering more than 34,000 beneficiaries. With state health plan officials, meanwhile, saying that the same medication remains too expensive to cover for those likely teachers and other state employees. The two state-administered health programs have taken different approaches to the increasingly popular weight loss drugs since 2024, with North Carolina Medicaid continuing to provide coverage, while the state health plan seeks to restore a benefit that it had to eliminate more than two years ago simply because of the cost. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, 34,500 124 Medicaid beneficiaries had GLP1 claims for weight loss in June, totaling a whopping $74.8 million, an average of $1,384 per beneficiary for the month. Those beneficiaries represented roughly 1.1% of the more than 3.1 million North Carolinians covered by Medicaid.
But the nearly $48 million figure is not what North Carolina ultimately paid. NCDHHS told the Carolina Journal last week that the amount represents total claims before federal Medicaid matching funds and drug manufacturer rebates are applied. The department said that the rebates are significant, but their amounts are not publicly available, so it is not immediately clear. At least according to details and data from Health and Human Services, how much North Carolinians are actually paying. That financing structure is one of the distances between Medicaid and the state health plan.
The state health plan provides coverage for more than 750,000 teachers, state employees, retirees, and their dependents. For the state health plan, current prices remain a barrier to restoring the weight loss coverage. According to Loretta Beniti, a spokesperson for the state treasurer's office who is responsible for the health plan notes, the state health plan continues to monitor the GLP1 market and explore opportunities to secure more sustainable pricing.
However, current prices remain unaffordable given the plan's financial condition. This all started back in 2024. The state health plan of Board of Trustees voted in January of 2024 to end coverage of the GLP-1 medications when prescribed for weight loss. At the time, more than 23,000 plan members were using the medications at a net cost of more than $800 per member per month after rebates when it was all said and done. Plan officials projected spending on the drugs would exceed $170 million in 2024 and surpass over $1 billion over the following six years if the coverage continued.
Four months after the state health plan stopped paying for the medication, Medicaid itself moved in the opposite direction and expanded coverage. North Carolina Medicaid added coverage of FDA-approved obesity medications in August of 2024, with the Department of Health and Human Services telling Carolina Journal the decision was intended to support improved health outcomes, prevention care, and potential long-term cost savings. The coverage includes the popular GLP ones like Wagovi and ZetBound, which are subject to Medicaid's clinical and prior authorization requirements. Medicaid's coverage, however, has not been interrupted. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced in September of 2025 that it would discontinue coverage of GLP-1s solely for the treatment of obesity beginning October the 1st of last year, citing a shortfall of state funding for the Medicaid program.
Coverage continued when the medications were prescribed for other issues, including diabetes and certain cardiovascular conditions.
However, this cutoff was short-lived, ending in less than three months under a directive from Governor Josh Stein in 2025. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services restored Medicaid's obesity coverage effective December the 12th of last year. Returning to the criteria that existed before the October cutoff. DHHS told Carolina Journal the weight loss benefit would be restored alongside the reversal of broader Medicaid provider rate cuts imposed during the state's funding dispute. The department said it continues to view the medications as potentially producing health and financial benefits over time.
With state treasurer Brad Breiner, who took office in January of 2025, who also chairs the state health plan board of trustees, says that he supports bringing back some weight loss GLP-1 coverage, but on a narrower, less expensive term than the benefits that ended in 2024. Breiner previously sought roughly $100 million to provide coverage to an estimated 14,000 state health plan members considered at the greatest health risk using a body mass index of 38 or higher as a threshold. Senate budget proposal in 2025 included an additional $25 million towards restoring limited coverage, while a House proposal included no funding. By May of this year, Bryner said that he did not expect lawmakers to provide that roughly $100 million that he had sought. And well, he was in fact correct with that.
The final state budget signed by Governor Stein in July does not include any sort of provisions specifically restoring GLP-1 weight loss coverage for members that take advantage of the state health plan here in North Carolina, as the plan has intended to pursue another route to potentially restore the benefits to those teachers and state employees. In October, the 2025 agreement with pharmacy benefit manager CVS CareMark gave the state health plan the ability to negotiate directly with GLP-1 manufacturers to secure lower prices and potentially restore the weight loss drugs coverage.
However, to this point. Those efforts have not yet produced a price that the state health plan considers affordable or, frankly, that they can pay for. According to Loretta Beniti, she says the plan hopes to restore some level of coverage for GLP-1 medications for weight loss in the future, but its immediate priority is addressing the funding deficit and improving its long-term financial stability. All of this before expanding benefits, the plan must first place itself on a more sustainable financial path. The state health plan does continue to cover GLP-1 medications for members diagnosed with diabetes.
Even as Medicaid continues to cover GLP-1s for weight loss, state lawmakers are directing the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to find ways to control their costs and use, as that has been a major topic of discussion over the last couple of months. The Medicaid overrun funding package, which was enacted in April of this year, requires the Division of Health Benefits to develop a broader Medicaid cost-saving and efficiency plan. The law specifically directs the Department to grant Medicaid-managed care plans greater flexibility in controlling the use of GLP-1 medications for weight loss. It calls for mandatory participation in nutrition, weight loss, and lifestyle management programs as part of the efforts for those that want to take advantage of those GLP-1s with the health and human services will be required to submit. A plan to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid and the General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division.
That is due October the 1st of this year, with the law noting that no implementations will happen before July the 1st of 2027. The department told the Carolina Journal in an emailed statement: NCDHHS continues to review and evaluate long-term cost savings and utilization controls for GLP-1 medications prescribed for weight loss coverage by NC Medicaid. And we will continue working with lawmakers to ensure efforts protect and strengthen access to care for all North Carolinians. To push for additional GLP-1 controls come as lawmakers are already confronting broader growth in North Carolina's Medicaid program. That has exploded over the last couple of years and the rising costs accompanying it.
The state's newly enacted state budget authorizes nearly $41.6 billion in total Medicaid spending for the current fiscal year, including federal funding, state appropriations, provider assessments, and other receipts. That is up from $21.6 billion just four years ago, a whopping 93% increase in that period of time. The state's share has also grown substantially. General fund support for Medicaid has increased from $4.71 billion four years ago to now more than $7.46 billion this year, a roughly 58% increase, with Medicaid now accounting for nearly 22% of the general fund compared to 16% just a decade ago. We will continue to watch these healthcare fights take place here in the state of North Carolina.
Continuing coverage of this over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline, NC Medicaid state health plan strategies diverge on GLP1 coverage. It's 5.39. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM. WBT, I'm Nick Craig.
A good Tuesday morning to you. Over the last couple of weeks and for the next couple of months, it is going to be very dull in the North Carolina General Assembly. As lawmakers, most of them are back in their districts, as the entirety of the North Carolina House and Senate will be on ballots coming up here as early voting kicks off in middle October. Election Day rolling through in early November.
Some surprising news out of the North Carolina General Assembly early this week. Senator Bobby Hoenig, a Republican in the North Carolina Senate, has announced he is resigning or retiring from the North Carolina General Assembly. He walks through some of those details this morning. Andrew Pomerantz, CarolinaJournal.com. Andrew, our General Assembly coverage is essentially kind of flown to a trickle at this point as lawmakers really aren't acting on a whole lot.
Sure, this caught you, like many others, like a total surprise. Yes, hey, Nick, good morning. Happy Tuesday. It's been a slow couple of weeks, like you mentioned, down the General Assembly now that they have broken. All the way until after the election is when we're hearing that they will next take up votes.
And so a number of Things happening, but outside the legislature, as they are in their districts, currently, you know, campaigning for what is going to become, you know, a really consequential election this November with everyone on the ballot. But this news coming out early Monday morning, about 8:30 this morning, we heard rumors that this was happening in a post on Facebook, Senator Hannig, posted that he was resigning or stepping aside from the General Assembly effective immediately.
So, you know, he was not running for reelection this upcoming November. He had been on the ballot for the Congressional District 1 primary before Lori Buchholt ended up winning that election. He finished third in that race. And so he said he was no longer running for the Senate. You know, he was on that ballot, cannot be on both ballots here in North Carolina.
And so it was kind of in a flux. And we knew that he was stepping aside at the end of the year. And he had been pretty consequential in this past legislative session, short session. He had been a pretty vocal voice on a lot of issues, you know, really affecting Northeastern North Carolina.
Some could say, you know, the loudest voice in the room when it came to Northeastern North Carolina. Big, bold personality. Bold suits always, and so a presence around the General Assembly. But as of this morning, a really surprising development for a lot of folks because this is not something that had to happen right now, could happen a month ago, could happen in January if he served out his term. As we do expect a few more votes to happen before the new General Assembly is sworn in in January.
And so a bit of a surprise this morning, but not changing too much down the General Assembly this time of year. Yeah, that's a great point there, Andrew, highlighting a couple of things there, including the fact that because he decided to run in that Republican primary for Congressional District 1, he had to pick or choose, either run in that or run for re-election in the North Carolina General Assembly, deciding to run in that GOP for CD1. But the timing of this, of course, is the very interesting part of this. Lawmakers have been inactive now over the last couple of weeks. Hoenig would have remained in his seat until the end of the calendar year until new lawmakers were sworn in in early parts of January next year.
In this public post on social media, did Senator Hoenig give any reason as to why he decided to do this now, or is it a lot of rumor and speculation that you're hearing around Raleigh? Yeah, he did not. And it's been mainly speculation here in Raleigh about why this decision was maybe made. You know, in his statement, he comes out, he thanks his supporters, his constituents, his family, his friends, and his fellow lawmakers.
Someone who is a presence, like I mentioned, down at the General Assembly, so someone who has a lot of friends that way, and took the time to say thank you this morning and wrote that he was proud of all the things that he had accomplished over the past 10 years. He had started in the House back in 2016 before moving over to the Senate in 2022. And so wrapping up his first full Senate term there. And so he didn't give any indication to why he was stepping down at this time. And then a few minutes later, around 9:30 this morning, Senator Leader Phil Berger put out a statement just saying, I want to thank Bobby for his service to the North Carolina Senate and District 1.
I wish him well in retirement and nothing further. And so speaking with people around the building this morning, I think a little bit of shock for everyone as this was maybe a decision that was unexpected, especially this time of year. And again, on a Monday, Monday, where not much else was going on. There's no reason for him to be in Raleigh this week. In a official letter that he turned in into Senate staff announcing his resignation, he mentions that he has other opportunities that require him to step aside from the Senate now as his reason why.
Those opportunities, you know, remaining unclear as of right now, what he may be speaking on in that role of what's to come for him.
So, a little bit of surprise, a lot of speculation going on right now, and not a lot of concrete answers. And I think we'll stay that way for a couple more months until we really find out what he's got going on in the background. One of the last times that we talked about Senator Hainig, obviously a lot of discussion back in the early half of the year before that March primary rolled around was over the budget negotiations ongoing in the North Carolina General Assembly. Very late into the legislative, what was supposed to be short session, is when a lot of those conversations and discussions materialized, Andrew, and he was very vocal against some of the provisions in the North Carolina budget as it relates to ferry tolling. This is, of course, very relevant for folks in the eastern half of North Carolina.
As you've noted a couple of times, a very loud, very vocal voice in the room essentially pitted him against Senate leadership because he actually voted no on the second reading of the state budget. That we watched that process play out, pass the Senate and the House, was eventually, even the governor said he had a whole bunch of problems with it, signed it anyway. One of the Republicans in the Senate voting against that legislation, at least from my vantage point, in large part, or almost exclusively because of some of these toll provisions. Yeah, he was only one of two Republicans to vote against the budget as it was presented in front of the Senate. He did so on second reading.
He stepped out of the room during third reading, so did not have a final vote on it. But on second reading, got up on the floor and said, you know, no North Carolinian should ever have to pay a toll to ride a ferry. I came here, made a promise to my constituents a long time ago I would not vote for a ferry tax and I won't now. And so, you know, gave this speech on the Senate floor in a really manner that was taken for granted by a lot of Republicans. You know, they assumed that all the votes had lined up after months and months of negotiations that we had covered, you know, two years, over a thousand days of waiting, to have someone in their own Republican caucus vote against a budget was a big deal.
And, you know, he kicked back on Senate leadership there. Ultimately, you know, his vote did not matter as it passed overwhelmingly, both out of the House and the Senate. And so a vote that at the end didn't have a lot of impact, but just seeing a Republican get up and kind of kick Republican leadership. Leadership right in the face was, I think, really stark. You know, we've seen this from him in the past.
We saw this with Shrimpgate as well. You know, he became the leading voice last year when the Senate tried to impose kind of these shrimp regulations about shrimp trolling off the coast of North Carolina. You know, he got up and was kind of the leading voice against this and the leading face for that movement at the time, right? When hundreds of individuals showed up to Raleigh in the General Assembly and protested that passing that legislation. And so when that went through, he actually said, I felt like I've been left out to dry by my Senate leadership and really tried to amend that legislation a number of times on the Senate floor and got rejected in doing so.
And so, not someone who had a legislative reputation of kind of rolling over and someone who was not afraid to stand up for his constituents out in northeastern North Carolina.
So, seeing him leave this way, I think is quite surprising for a lot of us. Andrew, that's a really good point. And let's maybe move on from the direct story here of Bobby Hoenig announcing he is resigning or retiring from the North Carolina General Assembly. This is a really good example of how a body like a General Assembly or a state legislature is made up. Obviously, the vast majority of members in the North Carolina General Assembly do not have ferries in their districts.
This is something that is pretty unique to the eastern half of North Carolina. And I guess many would argue this is exactly why you would send people from all corners of the state, from the Tennessee border to the Atlantic Ocean, up to Virginia and South Carolina to Raleigh to fight for some of these local issues. That I think, if we're just being blunt and honest about, the vast majority of citizens and members of the General Assembly, A, don't care about and B, have absolutely no vested interest in at all. It's the challenges of the General Assembly here in North Carolina, Nick, right? We have such a diverse state, whether that be from downtown Durham, you know, Representative Hawkins potentially in Durham, all the way up to the mountains and representing folks who are impacted by Helene, to the coast and districts like Senate District 1 and Bobby Hanning, right?
And so I've heard it a number of times, and I heard Senator Michael Lee say it this week. I've heard Zach Hawkins out of Durham, Representative Hawkins say it a number of times, that the General Assembly should spend more time in other people's districts, right? That elected officials should really work to travel the state to understand other districts because it is such a complicated state with complicated priorities and goals. And this is, I think, a great example of how something like ferry fees, which may seem small or unconsequential to a lot of us here across the state, can impact something so large that someone would vote against their own caucus-backed budget, right? That had a lot of proposals that I'm sure Senator Hanning would tell you he loved and that he was full of support of.
And so, but it's little things like this that really make North Carolina so unique when it comes to political. Landscape. It's one of those things that when we talk about House leadership, Senate leadership makes their districts so important. Are we going to end up with someone for next Senate pro tempor like Senator Michael Lee from the beach from that Wilmington area, or are we going to end up someone with like Ralph Heiss out from Western North Carolina and how different those two priorities could be just based on geographic concerns here? And so I think we see so often red and blue Republican and Democrat in the House and state legislatures across the country.
But a lot of times here in North Carolina, we find geographical groups coming together, right? Whether they be representatives from Western North Carolina versus representatives from Eastern North Carolina or working together on issues like that.
So I think a really important point here, we've talked about things like Shrimp Gate in theory. And that's why it's important that Eastern North Carolina continues to have representation that is loud and impactful because they are dealing with so many unique challenges. Yeah, really great points there, Andrew. And for anybody that has not had the pleasure of taking the trek either from the mountains to the coast or coast to the mountains, North Carolina is a very long state. It is amazing, truly, all the different things and all the different opportunities that exist here in North Carolina.
Just recapping everything here, as we mentioned at the open, Senator Hayting was already not running for reelection. There is a Republican that will be running for that Senate district. There was no primary that Hayning was in for that race. Is it fair to say that as we get closer to November and lawmakers are coming back, that the General Assembly will likely appoint an individual, or I should say, the local Republican Party will appoint an individual to fill that seat? As there will be, or we are at least now expecting some level of votes later on this year after the election?
I think that is a safe bet, absolutely, that the local council or local GOP will go ahead and nominate a representative. I assume at this point, it will be the Republican nominee for that district who's running in November, and that is Jerry Tillett. He won the GOP nomination back in March. And so I would have to assume that they will put him into that role. You know, it'll be after the election when they come back to vote anyway.
So he will most likely be the elected representative from that district when they do put him into that role.
So he'll serve in that role for about a month and then have to get re-thorn in. And so I think it'll be an interesting ceremony down at the General Assembly why that happens. I'm sure we'll have his family there and everything. But this is a Republican safe district, right? The Simtos Partisan Index over at the John Locke Foundation has this as an R plus six.
Bobby Hannig won this district with 57% of the votes by more than 15,000 votes just back in 2024.
So this district is something that is likely Republican and him stepping out of the race at this time is not going to impact necessarily whether this district goes red or blue. As you mentioned, he wasn't running anyway. And so, you know, a safe seat, I think, that is now looking forward, we'll stay in Republican control. And I have to imagine it'll be Jerry Tillett at this point. You can read the entire statement that was published by Senator Haney yesterday.
We've got those details over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update. Andrew Pomerantz joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Um Good morning again. It's 5:56.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT, we're going to be keeping a very close eye on the absentee ballot process here in North Carolina. One of the websites you'll hear us talk about a lot over the next couple of months. Carolinaelections.com, a product there called Vote Tracker, which is operated by our good friend Dr. Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation.
Tallies in those absentee by mail ballots. We don't know who the individuals actually vote for themselves, as those ballots are private, but we get a good idea of where votes are coming in. 10 so far since absentee balloting opened up and ballots were shipped out as early as noon on Friday. Carolinaelections.com will be keeping an eye on that and everything else election related right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going to do it for a Tuesday edition.
WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back. With you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT.
