Roy Cooper defeated Gov. Pat McCrory, pictured, by more than 10,000 votes in November’s election. | Getty North Carolina governor signs laws restricting successor's power

North Carolina GOP Gov. Pat McCrory has signed legislation stripping power from the governor's office before his successor, Democrat Roy Cooper, takes office next year.

The state's Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the bills this week during a special session. The new laws reduce the number of positions the governor can hire and fire at will from 1,500 to 300, strip the governor’s party of the power to control the state board of elections, require legislative approval of gubernatorial cabinet appointments, and move the power to appoint trustees for the University of North Carolina to the legislature.


Cooper defeated McCrory by more than 10,000 votes in November’s election. McCrory’s campaign and the state GOP attempted to challenge the results with claims of voter fraud, which were rejected by Republican-controlled county boards of elections.

Cooper has labeled the new legislation a “power grab” and said he will fight them in court, although legal experts are dubious of his chances of success. The entire General Assembly will be up for reelection in 2017 in newly drawn districts, after a judge ruled that the current maps drawn by the legislature were illegally gerrymandered.

McCrory has stayed quiet since the election and hasn’t spoken to the press during this week's legislative maneuvering.