Despite their control of the Governor’s office, Democrats don’t actually have full control of North Carolina’s executive branch. How did this happen, how did the votes play out, and how did Republicans take the council while losing the gubernatorial race?
Author: Eric Cunningham
Eric Cunningham
Eric Cunningham is the founder and editor-in-chief of Elections Daily. He is a lifelong resident of North Carolina and graduated from Appalachian State University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Communication, Journalism. You can follow him on Twitter at @decunningham2.
Despite holding the relatively obscure office of the Commissioner of Labor, Cherie Berry has become one of the most well-known and beloved politicians in North Carolina history. With a funny name and omnipresence in state elevators, no politician in modern North Carolina history has seen such an unusual cult following.
In August 2019, the Cherokee Nation made history by appointing their first delegate to Congress, Kimberley Teehee. While it remains to be seen whether or not the Cherokee Nation’s delegate is accepted by Congress, it raises a bigger question on the role of Native American representation in Congress as well as a potential solution both parties might be able to support.
Last month, a federal court issued a temporary injunction against North Carolina’s new voter ID law, which was passed in accordance with a 2018 constitutional amendment approved by voters. Although the referendum did not establish a specific voter ID, Republicans have repeatedly pointed to it as an example of popular support. The voter ID referendum was one of six on the statewide ballot that year, all of which were topics of heated debate for the entire 2018 election cycle, with Republicans urging people to vote for them all and Democrats urging voters to “nix all six amendments”. In the end,…
Although it is much harder to create a Democratic gerrymander than a Republican one, it’s not impossible – and this one would elect, at minimum, 9 Democrats in a 14-member map.
Despite the recent redraw of North Carolina’s congressional maps, the state remains gerrymandered to a degree and the maps will again have to be redrawn in a few years. Using the 2016 Voting District lines from Dave’s Redistricting App, I’ve drawn a map that could be used as a baseline for the 2022 redraw.
Mark Meadows shocked the political world today when he announced he would not be running for another term as representative for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district. However, despite the recent changes to the state’s congressional districts, there’s little evidence that NC-11 will be competitive in the future. Ironically, the late decision by Meadows actually hurts the Democratic Party. The deadline for legislative candidates to remove themselves from the ballot was yesterday, meaning that Joe Sam Queen, a Democrat who serves North Carolina’s rural 119th district in the state house, won’t be able to run. Even if he did, however, the…
By running away from the party system, strategic independents can provide real competition and choices to voters in uncompetitive states.
On paper, independent commissions seem like the perfect solution to gerrymandering. However, in practice these commissions have actually created new problems.
Gun control advocates would be wise to work with gun owners on passing honest, bipartisan reforms rather than focusing on divisive ideas like an ineffective assault weapons ban.