Ann Goodnight, a powerful advocate for higher education in the state, whose husband is the chief executive of the technology company SAS Institute, wrote a letter to The Raleigh News and Observer charging that cuts in education funding were a “grievous mistake.” The places that succeed in economic competitiveness, she wrote, “are investing in education and using the playbook we once embraced.”

The biggest firestorm erupted when the Legislature changed voting procedures, requiring a state-issued photo ID, limiting early voting and ending same-day registration — steps that disproportionately hamper black voters in elections.

“They are extremists and are playing the race card,” said the Rev. William Barber, head of the state’s chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. The civil rights group is organizing multiracial coalitions around the state and turning out thousands to protest these changes.

On taxes, the Republicans cut the corporate rate, ended the progressive personal income tax and eliminated the estate tax, which affected, on average, fewer than 75 families annually and will cost the state $300 million in lost revenue over the next five years. The Legislature also decided not to continue the earned income-tax credit for the working poor.

North Carolina requires a balanced budget, and new expenses must be offset elsewhere.

“They put in place tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit millionaires,” said Alexandra Sirota, director of the leftist North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, “while choosing not to extend a tax credit for the working poor.”

The governor, who is as moderate in demeanor as his previous record as mayor of Charlotte suggests, denied that he had been captured by the right. The tax cuts were essential, he said, because North Carolina was falling behind economic competitors like South Carolina. He pointed out that spending for kindergarten through 12th grade had increased (though not enough to keep up with inflation and population growth) and that funding for community colleges was cut because enrollment was down. Asked about support for the world-class University of North Carolina, the 56-year-old governor replied, “They can’t be satisfied with the status quo.”

Ms. Goodnight, he said, is a Democrat. Besides, he added, her husband supports him. When asked about the alleged voting fraud that mandated the changes in procedure, he offered no specifics: “It’s like insider trading; you don’t know until you look.”