By Elyse Apel for The Center Square

After 11 terms as a state representative in the North Carolina House of Representatives, Republican Tim Moore is moving on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Moore has set a record, serving five two-year terms as speaker of the chamber. He was named to chair the House Rules Committee in 2011, the year Republicans won both chambers of the General Assembly for the first time in 140 years.

“Moore is sort of an expert on everything,” Dallas Woodhouse, North Carolina executive director for American Majority Action, told The Center Square. “He has a lot of tremendous knowledge on individual issues,” Woodhouse said. “I think his leadership and knowing how to manage and bring people together in a large legislative operation is probably worth more than its weight in gold.”

On Election Day, North Carolina flipped three blue seats red, playing a critical role in Republicans maintaining majority control of the U.S. House.

Moore, from the 14th Congressional District, will be one of five Republican newcomers from North Carolina. They will be joined by five incumbent Republicans, along with four incumbent Democrats to make up the North Carolina delegation to the House.

Woodhouse said he expects Moore’s ability to encourage compromise will prove invaluable, especially with Republicans in the House holding a very thin majority.

With a Democrat governor in the state, Woodhouse explained that Moore has had to learn how to negotiate or rally enough representatives to override any potential vetoes.

“There’s nothing more difficult in North Carolina politics than managing the state House. It’s a lot of people,” Woodhouse said of the 120 members. “A lot of times, especially when he was trying to get over the governor’s vetoes, he had no margin for error. He had to try to corral votes and not lose a single one. And he was enormously successful at it.”

Cooper has a record, too – most vetoes by a governor in the state, all taking place with Moore shepherding the House. He’s at 103 as his eight years comes to an end next month, and Moore has been instrumental in the General Assembly going 49-for-49 overriding vetoes when there are three-fifths majority Republicans in both chambers.

Moore, self-labeled a “proven leader,” ran a campaign bent on fixing “a broken Congress,” handily winning his election against Democrat Pat Genant 58%-41.9%.

Woodhouse explained that, with a Republican trifecta, the Grand Old Party will now have the ability to do just that at the federal level.

“One of the things you have to worry about when you get consolidated control of government like Republicans are going to have now, is you do need to make sure that you’re not cutting corners, and the branches of government are standing up for their role in the system,” Woodhouse said. “I’m glad Tim Moore will be there to do that.”

After his many years in leadership in North Carolina, other Republicans will have to step up to fill Moore’s shoes in the state Legislature.

In his time at the state House, Moore has held staunchly conservative positions. Just in the 2023-24 legislative session, Moore helped introduce bills protecting 2nd Amendment rights, pushing for school choice, and even sponsoring a pro-Israel statement.

“You can’t lose his experience without it having some effect,” Woodhouse said. “But we have a good new speaker in Dustin Hall. He’s cut from the same cloth as Tim Moore.”

Woodhouse anticipates Republicans in the state will maintain a firm hold on the policy direction in the state, even with Moore gone.

“Republicans in the Legislature have driven and decided the policy direction of the state for over a decade, and they will continue to do so,” he explained. “There are not three co-equal branches of government in North Carolina. Here, the Legislature reigns supreme, and they’ll continue to do so.”
 

The preceding article originally appeared on November 14, 2024 at The Center Square’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law and nothing in the article should be construed as a political endorsement. Photo above by Travis Long for the Raleigh News & Observer.