Analysis: A 'coup'? A 'power grab'? There's some serious political drama in North Carolina right now

Democrats won the fight for North Carolina's governor's mansion this fall – but they're now in a brawl with the Republican- controlled legislature over who actually gets to pull the levers of power.

This week, in the waning hours of their hold on North Carolina's executive branch, Republicans unveiled and quickly pushed through a series of bills that would significantly curb Gov.-elect Roy Cooper's (D) power.

Republicans were voting on measures Thursday that would, among other things, require the governor's Cabinet appointments to be approved by the state Senate and effectively give Republicans control of the Board of Elections during election years. Other bills appeared designed to limit Democrats' judicial influence by making North Carolina one of just a handful of states that holds partisan elections for its state Supreme Court justices.

It was unclear how many would ultimately be voted on, but those that made it to the floor were expected to pass. Beleaguered Gov. Pat McCrory (R) is still in charge for a few more weeks and could sign the bills into law on his way out the door, though he hasn't said whether he will. For now, all Democrats can do is watch.

"American democracy may be more fragile than we realized," longtime U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., said in a statement.

Cooper held a news conference Thursday where he described legislature's efforts as "unprecedented" and urged them to "go home."

"This is about thwarting the governor's ability to move us forward," he said, later adding: "Most people might think that this is a partisan power grab. But this is more ominous."

What Democrats call a concerted power grab, Republicans frame as a constitutional check and balance. House Rules Chairman David Lewis (R) said the GOP-controlled legislature wants to "establish that we are going to continue to be a relevant party in governing this state," the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

Yes, he allowed, the fact they'll have a Democratic governor next year is speeding things along. But GOP leaders maintained that the changes were long overdue.

"Some of the stuff we're doing, obviously if the election results were different, we might not be moving quite as fast on, but a lot of this stuff would have been done anyway and has been talked about for quite some time," Lewis said.

Adding to Democrats' dismay is the fact many were caught by surprise. At McCrory's request, Republican legislative leaders convened a special session this week to approve $200 million of disaster recovery aid for Hurricane Matthew and wildfires. There had been rumors for weeks that Republicans would use the time to pack the state Supreme Court with GOP appointees. That never came to fruition.

But as the special session for hurricane relief aid was coming to a close Wednesday, GOP lawmakers suddenly convened another. They wouldn't say why until the bills that would curtail Cooper's power dropped.

Urged on by Democratic lawmakers, several hundred people packed the capitol in Raleigh on Thursday to express their concern that hurricane relief was being used as a cover for partisan politics. A journalist who works for an advocacy group claimed to have been arrested as police tried to clear out protesters who were chanting from the galleries during the legislative session. Police tried to clear the galleries and arrested a number of people who refused to leave and charged them with trespassing, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

Things got particularly ugly during an NAACP news conference, when one of the group's attorneys spotted the director of the state Republican Party in the crowd and welcomed him by saying: "I know this is the first meeting he's been in in the last two or three days that wasn't composed of all white people."

The moves may have shocked Democrats – but the method has a familiar feel. The last time GOP lawmakers called a high-profile special session, in March, they ended up ramming through one of the state's most controversial laws in recent memory, a bill limiting which public bathrooms transgender people can use and municipalities' ability to pass anti-discrimination laws for LGBT people.

A national backlash to that bill helped contribute to McCrory's upset. (He conceded earlier this month, though not before controversially calling the election into question by attempting to claim widespread voter fraud.)

The state legislature is indeed acting within its rights, said University of North Carolina constitutional law professor Michael Gerhardt.

But he said it is potentially concerning that lawmakers are powering through these changes in such a blatantly political way: A Republican legislature is convening a special session to pass bills that limit an incoming Democratic governor's power.

Whatever the final outcome, what's happening now certainly doesn't bode well for relations between the two branches – relations that were already expected to be contentious. Cooper ousted McCrory by roughly 10,000 votes out of more than 4 million cast, and Republicans in the state legislature have a supermajority capable of vetoing Cooper anytime they want.

"The concern for a lot of people is we have a legislature intent on keeping the score politically," Gerhardt said.

North Carolina's politicians could be taking their cues from Washington.

Significant parts of President Barack Obama's legacy have been stymied in the courts, thanks to lawsuits brought by more than two dozen GOP state attorneys general and sometimes even Congress itself.

"They look at what happened at the federal level and think, 'Maybe we need to do it at the state level,' " Gerhardt said.

But, much like the situation in Washington, whether you think what's happening in North Carolina is right or wrong probably depends on your politics, Gerhardt added: "If you're a 'big D Democrat,' (this) worries you. If you're a 'big R Republican,' maybe it worries you, maybe it doesn't."