asane

Trump won the White House, but MAGA did not dominate NC. Good

Online Niel November 10, 2024

Attending the Kamala Harris rally in Charlotte, NC gave me some hope. Watching Democrats retain the governorship kept that hope alive.

North Carolina had a strange election night.

Donald Trump carried the state by nearly 190,000 votes – the biggest the margin he won in North Carolina in the last three presidential elections.

Meanwhile, the state elected Democrat Josh Stein governor with almost 55% of the votes and beating a MAGA candidate in process.

Of the state The Supreme Court could move further to the rightbut the democrats have broke the Republican supermajority in the state House of Representatives. The Republicans won The headquarters of the state auditorwhile the Democrats won state inspector.

Over the past year, I’ve told countless people that I thought North Carolina would turn red again on election night. What I noticed in my state was a persistent Republican presence and support for the MAGA agenda.

North Carolina voters continue to elude me, but one thing is certain: the gains the Democratic Party has made in the state make me hopeful for the party’s future.

Asheville voted, even though it still had no clean water after Helene

In the days leading up to the election, I drove across North Carolina to get a sense of how the state was going to vote.

The Friday before Election Day, I went to Asheville, where residents are still living without clean water. While there, we witnessed Democratic voters turn out for early voting in droves despite the recent devastation of Hurricane Helene. While much of North Carolina moved more to the right compared to 2020, many counties in western North Carolina moved more to the left.

A polling station I visited also acted as a clean water station, a place to get hot meals and a place to drop off donations. I spoke with Democratic volunteer Sherry Banner, who said the storm didn’t influence her decision to campaign for the party.

“My decision came as we got closer and closer to the election,” Banner told me. “I became more and more afraid of what might happen if it didn’t go my way.”

At another site, local Democrats had signs for people to pose with “cookie lovers against bigotry” and “stronger than storms, stronger than hate.”

“Asheville is strongly political in their beliefs,” voter EJ Wright told me outside the East Asheville Library. “It doesn’t matter if there were still floods here, I think people would still be here trying to vote.”

Harris’ rally in Charlotte was my moment of hope

The next day, I drove to Charlotte to hear Vice President Kamala Harris speak. The PNC Music Pavilion was packed with thousands of Harris supporters. Just up in Greensboro, Trump was speaking in a rarefied arena that Harris had previously filled.

After spending an afternoon with Harris supporters, I assumed North Carolina had a chance to turn blue this election cycle. It was a lofty goal, but a real possibility given that Stein polled so far ahead of scandal-ridden Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. I assumed, incorrectly, that there was no way there could be that many split-ticket voters.

Spending election night with Democrats in a battleground state

On election night, I was in Raleigh at the North Carolina Democratic vigil where the state board candidates were awaiting the results. Early in the night, I found out that Stein beat Robinson. In fact, Stein received 160,000 more votes in the state than Trump did.

“I chose hope over hate, competence over chaos, decency over division.” the governor-elect told the crowd at the North Carolina Democratic Watch Party. “That’s who we are as North Carolinians.”

The night quickly took a turn from there.

There were some wins for Democrats: Rep. Jeff Jackson was elected state Attorney General over Republican Dan Bishop; Maurice (Mo) Green defeated right-wing extremist Michele Morrow in the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Rachel Hunt defeated Hal Weatherman in the lieutenant governor race, handing the job to Democrats for the first time in 16 years.

They also broke the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, meaning Stein will have the power to oppose any extremism passed in the legislature. That’s a relief compared to Robinson, an offensive ultra-MAGA candidate who would have set the state back a generation.

The reality is that North Carolina is still for Trump

I’m not surprised Harris lost North Carolina. While we’ve seen her make gains in bluer parts of the state, Trump still has a stronghold in rural areas.

In Mount Airy, my rural hometown, I saw countless Trump lawn signs. He obtained 76% of the votes in the county.

On the other hand, I hope people don’t use this moment as a moment to write off the South as deserving of what’s to come. There are people in every part of the country who believe in the values that Harris espoused. Even in my conservative hometown, I spoke with a woman at a grocery store who told me abortion rights were her biggest concern.

At the end of the day, I’m pleased that North Carolina Democrats had some overall wins on an otherwise disappointing night. I hope the party picks up the momentum going forward and continues to try to reach voters from all over the state – not just its blue towns.

Follow USA TODAY election columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno