A Rare Moment of Bipartisan Agreement: Throwing Someone Overboard

The Scene in Raleigh

When the North Carolina House speaker, Destin Hall, announced a new committee to review whether Rep. Cecil Brockman should be expelled after his arrest on multiple alleged sex-crime charges involving a minor, jaws didn't exactly drop. What startled Raleigh wasn't the scandal itself — sadly, we've seen that film — but the eerie quiet that followed. No spin, no tribal counterprogramming. Republicans and Democrats alike simply said: He should resign.

It's the kind of harmony state politics hasn't heard since both parties agreed barbecue should never be boiled. For a brief moment, the General Assembly — usually two tents of rival carnivals — sounded like a single marching band.

A Committee Nobody Envies

Hall, a Republican from Caldwell County, said the bipartisan panel will dig into the allegations, criminal filings, and legislative precedent for expelling a sitting lawmaker. He plans to name members Wednesday, which gives everyone roughly 24 hours to avoid eye contact with leadership before being "volunteered." Expect seasoned rule‑book types who can recite Article II of the state constitution but wish they'd called in sick.

If the committee recommends removal, it would be a rare invocation of the House's nuclear option — a two-thirds vote to eject one of its own. The last time lawmakers toyed with that idea, smartphones had buttons.

The Part Everyone Agrees On

The universal call for Brockman's resignation might be the purest bipartisan act in modern state history. It doesn't happen when schools need money. It doesn't happen when potholes become sinkholes. But present the General Assembly with a colleague facing child‑sex charges, and unity blooms like dogwoods in April. No focus groups required.

Even in 2025, amid partisan trench warfare and algorithmic outrage, North Carolina's political class managed to locate one small patch of moral consensus. Maybe that's the real headline: not the fall of a lawmaker, but the brief resurrection of shared standards. In an era when agreeing on lunch counts as progress, that's almost newsworthy.

What Happens Next

By Wednesday evening, Hall's committee list will drop. The group will review the evidence, past expulsions, and any relevant case law, then report back to the full House. At that point, the chamber could vote to expel Brockman — a move supported publicly by leaders of both parties. For once, the debate won't be over ideology but over punctuation: whether the resolution should end with a period or an exclamation mark.

However this ends, it's worth noting that the institution's reflex for self-correction hasn't completely atrophied. Somewhere between the scandals and the gerrymanders, the House remembered how to blush. That's progress of a kind. Small, awkward, necessary progress.

About the Author

Peter Cellino, publisher of The Charlotte Mercury, writes these pieces fueled by cold brew and an unhealthy curiosity about bipartisan miracles. Find him on Bluesky at petercellino.com — coffee talk encouraged, spin not so much.

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See our full 2025 election coverage — Poll Dance 2025 — where bipartisanship usually goes to die but sometimes resurrects itself between recounts.

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This article, "A Rare Moment of Bipartisan Agreement: Throwing Someone Overboard," by Peter Cellino is licensed under CC BY‑ND 4.0.

"A Rare Moment of Bipartisan Agreement: Throwing Someone Overboard"
by Peter Cellino, Mercury Local (CC BY‑ND 4.0)