Yesterday Gov. Cooper announced his appointment of Damon Circosta to the state Board of Elections, to replace Bob Cordle who resigned after telling an offensive joke at a conference for election officials.

The board will now have five members – two Republicans and three Democrats – and will elect a new Chairman, which will be the fourth chair since December.

Circosta served a brief stint on the BoE last year, but has some distressing associations with some of North Carolina’s most far-left activist groups.

Circosta is the executive director of the AJ Fletcher Foundation, one of – if not the – biggest funders of leftist activist groups in the state. Fletcher helped fund the notorious Blueprint NC, the coalition that authored the infamous 2013 memo urging member groups to “eviscerate the [Republican] leadership and weaken their ability to govern,” and to “litigate, cogitate and agitate” until they get their way. Fletcher also has donated millions over the last decade to the NC Justice Center, which housed and directed the Blueprint movement.

Prior to that, Circosta served as a board member and executive director of the NC Center for Voter Education, a group that was funded in part by George Soros’ Open Society Institute.