More good news for Democrats
The political environment seems to be holding in North Carolina to favor Democrats and could be getting better. A High Point University poll shows Democrats with significant leads on the generic ballot questions and a look at recent voter registration numbers shows a...
Oh, those youngsters
Dr. Michael Bitzer has been doing more great analysis on registration and turnout in North Carolina. This time, he’s taken a look at young voters 25 and under. The behavior of these voters may well shape the outcome of 2018. Among younger voters, Bitzer notes that...
The Tillis, Cambridge Analytica deal stinks
The Cambridge Analytica saga in North Carolina stinks. Thom Tillis’ campaign says that they paid $100,000 win bonus to the British company. The company apparently had non-citizens embedded at the North Carolina Republican Party directing campaign strategy. The win...
NC Democrats’ Green Party problem
The state got a new political party this week when the state board of elections voted to certify the Green Party. The party that nominated Jill Stein in 2016 and Ralph Nader in 2000 joins Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians on the ballot. In 2016, North Carolina...
Like a Wall Street banker
I don’t often agree with former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer but his take on the $95,000 bonus paid to UNC President Margaret Spellings was spot on. "At a base salary of $775,000,” Fetzer said, “I think the tax paying citizens of North Carolina ought to be able to expect...
In North Carolina, black women Democrats win support
Ok, I’m going to jump in and invite abuse again this morning. The story line that Democrats aren’t doing enough to support African-American women is overstated, at least in North Carolina. We certainly need to do more to encourage black women to run for office. We...
Ominous signs for the GOP in North Carolina
A look at a new Pew Report combined with numbers accumulated by Dr. Michael Bitzer illustrate the problem Republicans will face in North Carolina over the next decade or so. According to Bitzer’s data, more than half the voters in the state are women. According to the...
Was Kay Hagan robbed?
It seems like every shady idea Republicans have to rig elections is tried out in North Carolina first. We had the most extreme gerrymandering in the nation following the reapportionment in 2011. We had the most extreme voter suppression program that “would target...
Shifting voter behavior in North Carolina
When I started working in politics in North Carolina about 25 years ago, we had two main metrics to determine whether districts were competitive or not: party registration and race. While both factors still matter, the state is changing and how we identify competitive...
Fifty years of Nixon’s Southern Strategy in North Carolina and the Deep South
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Nixon’s Southern Strategy that accelerated the transformation of the South from a one-party system by cynically exploiting the success of the Civil Rights movement. Nixon’s strategists understood that integration forced on...
