News

McGrady declines Justice's offer in exchange for dropping out

By Lightning Reports, Published: December 18, 2019

State Rep. Chuck McGrady says he accept an offer from candidate Dennis Justice to help repeal invalid amendments to the state constitution.

When he announced his campaign for the state House seat McGrady will leave in January 2021, Justice vowed that he would drop out if the incumbent could persuade legislative leaders to support a November 2020 referendum to officially remove unconstitutional amendment from the state Constitution. McGrady declined, telling Justice in a letter this week that “I’d be lying to you if I said I could” persuade legislative leaders to support the proposal.
“There are provisions in the state constitution which are clearly unconstitutional, but there appears to be no will to delete them,” he said. “The reason for that, I suspect, is that to strike them from the constitution would require a vote by voters. It would take more than just the legislature striking them. I’m guessing the unstated fear is that the voters would reject the effort to delete the provisions.”
McGrady noted that he was the only Republican legislator who did not vote for the marriage amendment when the General Assembly put it on the ballot in 2012.
“I thought it was likely unconstitutional but, frankly, I never expected that it would be ruled unconstitutional so quickly,” he said. “I think North Carolina was the last state to adopt a marriage amendment before all of them were ruled to be unconstitutional.”

Justice faces Tim Moffitt, a former House member from Asheville who now lives in Edneyville, in the March 3 Republican primary.