Two Republican members of the North Carolina House have resigned from leadership positions within their caucus.
Both Reps. Jeff McNeely of Stony Point and Keith Kidwell of Chocowinity held deputy whip positions in the House Republican Caucus, and both made controversial comments last week. During a House floor debate over private school scholarships, McNeely, who is white, asked Rep. Abe Jones, who is Black, if he got into Harvard University because he was a minority or an athlete. Jones responded to the racist line of questioning with his academic record, and accepted McNeely’s apology.
Kidwell was heard by a WRAL reporter making a joke about the “church of Satan” while Democratic Rep. Diamond Staton-Williams was giving a speech about her faith during the abortion debate.
Staton-Williams told The News & Observer on Thursday that Kidwell has not apologized.
Republican House Majority Leader John Bell announced the resignations during a non-voting House session on Thursday morning.
Neither lawmaker is resigning from the legislature.
House Republican Caucus Director Stephen Wiley said the decision for their resignations happened Tuesday or Wednesday.
Asked to confirm if McNeely and Kidwell lost their positions because of what they said last week, Wiley said:
“I mean I think it’s pretty apparent, that’s why.”
There are six other whips within the caucus. McNeely and Kidwell are part of the unofficial ultraconservative Freedom Caucus within the House as well. Kidwell also holds a powerful committee position: He is senior chair of the House Finance Committee.
In a statement, Bell noted the announcement on the floor and said: “As elected officials, we must serve by example and be accountable for our actions, especially as leaders in the caucus.”
“While apologies have been made and accepted, we believe this is an appropriate action and step forward. The House Republican Caucus remains united as we work towards our shared goals this legislative session,” Bell said.
McNeely apologized to Jones both on the House floor and privately, with Jones accepting his apology, The N&O previously reported.
Staton-Williams told The N&O that Kidwell has not apologized to her. She said she doesn’t have a “big reaction, really,” to the Republican caucus leadership changes.
“I think I believe the GOP leadership did what they thought was best and I stand behind their decision,” she said. Asked if there should have been other repercussions, Staton-Williams said those “decisions that were made are outside of my control, and whatever the leadership came up with is appropriate.”
The N&O has contacted McNeely and Kidwell for comment.
House Minority Leader Robert Reives, a Chatham County Democrat, said he thinks the House Republican Caucus decision to remove McNeely and Kidwell from leadership was appropriate and that there’s “just no place for certain types of conduct.”
“We’ve got to respect the institution, we’ve got to respect each other and we’ve got to be respectful of other members, especially,” Reives told reporters in his office on Thursday.
“’I’m glad to see that there at least has been an addressing of it at this time,” he said.
Reives said a majority of the House Republican caucus “don’t think like this,” but that the growth of the House’s Freedom Caucus has “changed the tenor of the caucus.” He also pointed to a change in that tenor since the 2022 elections, and said that “in politics, we have just set a really bad tone in the way that we relate to each other.”
“And ultimately, no matter what it’s based on, that’s what it gets to. So it’s not just about racial undertones. It’s not just about misogyny, it’s not just about, you know, disparate treatment of other minority groups. It is about a general consensus, that it’s OK to treat badly, people who are not like you,” Reives said.
Senate Republicans ‘would not do those sorts of things,’ Berger says
Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, told reporters on Thursday that he thinks “everybody was concerned” about the comments by Kidwell and McNeely.
“I’ll leave it up to the speaker as to how to deal with with the members of his caucus. It would be my expectation that our members would not do those sorts of things,” Berger said.
Reives said that while House Speaker Tim Moore decides who chairs committees, Kidwell’s role as Finance chair “is one of the most powerful positions in the House. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about that. And so I think if you ask most members, whether or not they could be a whip, or they could be chair of Finance, they would choose to be chair of Finance.”
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