North Carolina lawmaker Carla Cunningham voted to mandate compliance with ICE, and derided immigrants on the House floor. The Democrat faces an intense March primary.

Last July, North Carolina state Representative Carla Cunningham, a seven-term Democratic lawmaker from Mecklenburg County, startled party members when she stood on the state House floor and said “all cultures are not equal” and suggested immigrants “must assimilate” and “adapt to the culture of the country they wish to live in.”

Cunningham’s floor speech came after she cast the lone Democratic vote to override North Carolina Governor Josh Stein’s veto of a Republican-backed bill forcing local law enforcement agencies to work more closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The override succeeded thanks to her crossover vote…

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On paper, North Carolina Republicans are one seat short of a supermajority in the state House, but Cunningham and a small group of fellow Democrats have supplied votes to help them override Stein’s vetoes on immigration and other issues, including bills to expand gun rights and restrict LGBTQ+ rights. Several of these Democrats face challengers in the March 3 primaries.

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If Cunningham’s two challengers split the support of voters who are upset with the incumbent, it could help her get through with a plurality of the vote. (North Carolina primaries only head to a runoff if a candidate fails to top 30 percent of the vote.) The winner of the Democratic primary is likely to prevail in November as no Republican has filed to run.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260219131948/https://boltsmag.org/north-carolina-2026-primary-immigration-policy/