Rep. Kiger sworn into NC House after delay, veto dispute

Dan Kiger, a retired state trooper and former chairman of the Surry County Republican Party, has been appointed to the North Carolina House of Representatives, filling the District 90 seat vacated by former Rep. Sarah Stevens, R-Surry.

Stevens resigned from the House effective June 16 to focus full-time on her 2026 campaign for the North Carolina Supreme Court. Stevens, an attorney from Mount Airy, had represented District 90 and was serving her ninth term in the House.

Stevens is challenging incumbent Democratic Associate Justice Anita Earls in the only North Carolina Supreme Court race on the 2026 ballot.

As first reported by The Assembly, Kiger’s appointment came after what sources close to House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, described as a power play by the governor’s office. Kiger was at the legislature with his family, expecting to be sworn in on Tuesday, but the appointment had not yet been finalized.

A spokesperson for Hall’s office told Carolina Journal that the governor’s office had indicated Gov. Josh Stein would not sign off on Stevens’ replacement unless the House agreed not to take up veto overrides on bills Stein had blocked.

The governor’s signature is typically viewed as a procedural step after the appropriate party executive committee recommends a replacement for a legislative vacancy.

“It’s rare to see the governor slow-walk the filling of a legislative vacancy,” said Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst. “The state law — NC Gen. Stat. § 163-11 — says the governor ‘shall immediately appoint’ the candidate named by the departing lawmaker’s political party. If the governor fails to take action within a week, the appointment takes effect without him. So there’s little incentive for the governor to draw out the appointment process.”

“But this could be just the latest example of the governor’s office and top legislative leaders probing the limits of their respective powers,” Kokai added. “This incident occurred within days of the state Supreme Court agreeing to hear two cases pitting Gov. Stein against top lawmakers over changes to Stein’s appointment authority. Questions about the separation of powers are fresh in the minds of people on both sides of the dispute.”

Stein later signed off on Kiger’s nomination following the House voting session, delaying his introduction before the House by a day. Sources close to Hall said the delay frustrated the speaker and was one of the leading factors in the House’s decision to take up veto overrides the following day.

The House voted to override Stein’s vetoes of four Republican-backed bills, including immigration-enforcement and DEI-related measures. The overrides passed 71-47, the exact number needed after two representatives who had been present earlier in the day were absent for the votes: Reps. Carla Cunningham, I-Mecklenburg; and Shelly Willingham, D-Edgecombe.

Both lawmakers had been defeated in their Democratic primaries earlier this year by Stein-backed challengers. Cunningham lost to the Rev. Rodney Sadler in House District 106, while Willingham lost to Patricia Smith in House District 23.

Under state law, the governor appoints the replacement recommended by the appropriate political party executive committee when a vacancy occurs in the General Assembly. 

District 90 includes Surry and Wilkes counties in northwest North Carolina. Kiger, a Republican from the State Road community, won a three-way Republican primary for the seat in March with 7,459 votes, 51.91%. Kiger is set to face Democrat Ken Badgett in November.

Stevens defeated Badgett in her most recent House race in 2024, winning 77.9% to 22.1%.

“Rep. Kiger sworn into NC House after delay, veto dispute” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.