Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Jason Husser spoke with WFMY and ABC 45 News about the potential replacement process for a Guilford County lawmaker facing calls to resign.
Elon University Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Jason Husser spoke with WFMY News 2 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and WXLV ABC 45 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina about the process for replacing a state lawmaker, as State Rep. Cecil Brockman is facing calls to resign after being charged with child sex crimes.
According to WFMY, prosecutors say 41-year-old Brockman attempted to track a 15-year-old victim on Oct. 5 using Life360, sending an Uber to the teen’s location. When the driver could not locate the victim, Brockman reportedly called 911 to the location in Davidson County. Law enforcement then contacted High Point Police, leading to the recovery of the victim.
Now, both the Governor and Lt. Governor have called on Brockman to resign from his position. He has represented Guilford County in the state legislature since 2015. According to WFMY, if a lawmaker resigns, leaders from the county political party choose a replacement. The Guilford County Democratic Party would meet and send their recommendation to Governor Josh Stein. The Governor then has seven days to appoint that person to fill the rest of the term. If he doesn’t act in time, the appointment happens automatically.
Jason Husser, professor of political science and public policy, spoke with WFMY on Oct. 10, about what the situation would look like if Brockman resigned, saying the process would move quickly.
“If Brockman resigned, it would be a situation in which local Democrats could make a recommendation to quickly appoint a replacement,” Husser explained. “That replacement would almost certainly be a Democrat, keeping the same partisan balance.”
According WXLV, as of Oct. 21, Brockman has yet to resign, and the North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall is launching a bipartisan committee to investigate if Brockman should be expelled.
“That committee will be gathering information, will likely be making a report or some sort of recommendation,” Husser said in an Oct. 22 interview with WXLV. “That report or recommendation will then inform the votes of all the members of the House of Representatives, who will then have the decision of whether or not to really have a historic move of removing Brockman from the position.”