A controversial law that strips North Carolina’s incoming governor of some power was put on hold on Friday after Governor-elect Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit challenging it. The law, signed by outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory and characterized as a power grab by the state’s Republicans, would combine the state’s election board with its ethics commission in an effort to limit how many Democrats the incoming governor could appoint. It was set to go into effect on Jan. 1. Cooper defeated McCrory in his re-election bid in November in a close and contentious race. McCrory refused to concede defeat until nearly a month after Election Day.
