WataugaWatch: “At the moment, the struggle to succeed Tim Moore as Republican Speaker of the NC House comes down to a contest between “slick” and “aw, shucks” — that is, a rivalry for the job between current Majority Leader John Bell (“aw, shucks!” from Wayne Co.) and slick Caldwell County lawyer Destin Hall, chair of the all-important House Rules Committee and the also very important Redistricting Committee. I profiled Bell not so long ago; Hall is better known up here because of his redistricting shenanigans, which included his snatching Blue Ridge precinct, Watauga’s biggest precinct which has trended “blue,” for his own Caldwell County House district, thus safely diluting the Democratic vote — no threat to himself — while strengthening Ray Pickett’s hold on Dist. 93.
Hall is like a walking knife blade, as sleek and polished as rival John Bell is rumpled and scruffy.”