Mel C

Two of the most corrupt, and corrupting, political leaders in modern North Carolina history are both leaving office this year in a humiliating spectacle of greed and overreach. For more than a decade, Phil Berger and Tim Moore ran the North Carolina state legislature as their personal fiefdom. They weaponized a firehose of corporate dark money from out of state to enforce strict party discipline in the State Senate and State House, respectively. Many people ask why there isn't more independence among North Carolina state lawmakers. The answer for the last 15 years has been one of these men. Tim Moore racked up a long and tawdry list of moneymaking grifts and sex scandals. He abused his office for personal financial gain over and over again. When he was finished in Raleigh, he drew his own Congressional district to run in, so he could go to Washington and make another big score. As a Congressman, he became one of the most active stock traders on insider information. Phil Berger, too, bent the law, broke norms, and profited handsomely from his political power. He placed his children in positions of power, snubbed bipartisanship in favor of single-minded dedication to big corporate donors, and traded an astonishing mid-decade re-gerrymander of North Carolina's Congressional map to buy a Trump endorsement in his unexpectedly competitive primary. But then, things went wrong. First, Berger overreached when he tried selling out North Carolina to the casino interests, and he spent $10 million of corporate donors' money to save his seat - and failed. He lost his primary, and the Democrat he tried to cut down - Don Davis - is returning to office next year. Next, Tim Moore was too arrogant and busy trading stocks to notice that the people of his district don't like him. He lost his Congressional race in NC-14 to Democrat Lakesha Womack, who had almost zero money and a mostly volunteer staff. Both men were stunned. They thought they were invincible, because 15 years of gerrymandering and cash had blinded them to reality. These men hurt North Carolina, poisoned our politics, and divided us as a state. The Great State of North Carolina will now begin to heal - because they're gone.