(The Center Square) – State Rep. Cecil Brockman, a Democrat from Guilford County helping multiple Republican policy measures overcome gubernatorial vetoes, is being asked by both major parties to resign amid charges of indecent liberties with a 15-year-old.
The 41-year-old sixth-term member of the House of Representatives was arrested in Guilford County on Wednesday. The charges are two counts statutory sex offense with a child and two counts indecent liberties with a child.
The North Carolina Democratic Party, led by Chairwoman Anderson Clayton, issued a party statement Thursday saying, “The North Carolina Democratic Party calls on Rep. Brockman to immediately resign. The profound seriousness of these criminal charges makes it impossible for him to effectively represent his community.”
And the Republican speaker agreed.
Writing on social media Thursday morning, Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said, “The charges against Rep. Brockman are shocking and extremely serious. Given the evidence that’s publicly known, he should resign immediately so these charges do not distract from the work of the North Carolina House.”
Brockman represents District 60, or the southwestern corner of Guilford County inclusive of High Point. He’s vice chairman in the Committee on Education K-12, and a member of five others – Agriculture and Environment; Appropriations; Appropriations Education; Energy and Public Utilities; and Health. He also is a member of the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee.
In November, he defeated Republican Joseph Perrotta 63.2%-36.8% in a race with nearly 38,000 votes cast.
Fifteen vetoes from first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein have been issued this session. Eight have been overturned, with Brockman’s vote pivotal on Charter School Changes (Senate Bill 254); and Personal Privacy Protection Act (Senate Bill 416), where he changed from no at passage to an aye at override.
The charter school bill changed authority decisions at play between the State Board of Education and the Charter Schools Review Board. The privacy protection bill dealt with donations made to nonprofits and was criticized by the governor as a way to bring “dark money” into politics.
On Limit Rules with Substantial Financial Costs (House Bill 402), he changed from an aye at passage to no at override, but Republicans got the measure past 73-47 with Democratic Reps. Carla Cunningham of Mecklenburg County and Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe County. This is the bill formerly known as the NC REINS Act when it was SB290, a law that increases legislative oversight of regulations with price tags exceeding $20 million.
In December, after his election win, Brockman went public with an inner party fued.
He said the North Carolina Democratic Party “sent angry mobs,” “wasted more than half a million dollars” to defeat him in a primary and seeks “a seat warmer who does nothing, sacrificing their own community’s needs for the desires of the wealthy and white Democratic elite.”
The tipping point was Brockman enabling Disaster Relief-3/Budget/Various Law Changes, also known as Senate Bill 382, to be successfully overridden 72-46. Democrats were upset the 132-page legislation changed authorities for elected leaders and Republicans were satisfied with adding those changes to a $277 million fiscal aid package to western North Carolina.
The Hurricane Helene recovery portion of the document was contained in the first 13 pages.
