A day of reckoning for North Carolina Democrats

November’s election was a pretty much a disaster for Democrats nationwide, but North Carolina Democrats can take some comfort in retaining their longstanding tradition of winning the governor’s race, four other council of state elections, the contested Supreme Court race and in reinstating a veto-proof majority in the legislature - by one vote.

But beyond those victories there is little for North Carolina Democrats to celebrate. Skip Stam, the former Republican majority leader for the NC House, pointed out the sharp decline of the Democratic Party in a recent op-ed.

With apologies in advance for so many numbers, allow me to paint a fuller picture.

The last time a Democrat won our state’s presidential election was 2008, when Barack Obama squeezed out a victory of less than one-half of a percent. Before that, the last Democrat to win was Carter in 1976. Republican margins of victory in presidential elections were not in the landslide range (no more than 3.6 percent), but they are consistent. And Trump’s 3.2 percent win in November would likely have been larger had Republicans fielded better statewide candidates down ballot.

Our congressional contests had only one real close election, Democrat Don Davis’ re-election. The Washington delegation swung from 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans to 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats. To be sure extreme gerrymandering had a major impact, but those three lost seats would have all but erased the 4 seat margin Republicans hold in the 119^th national congress.

The GOP council of state candidates were notably weak, headed by the clown Mark Robinson. The Public Instruction candidate was almost as preposterous and let’s not forget the Republican candidate for Attorney General sponsored the infamous HB2 bill. Even so, 4 of the 10 COS elections were won by Republicans.

Until 2010, Democrats controlled both houses of the General Assembly since 1900, with a couple of exceptions. That changed in the 2010 elections. Republicans won control and have kept it. The GOP now holds 71 of the 120 House seats and 30 of the 50 Senate seats, numbers which have been pretty consistent. They control legislative leadership. The outgoing Republican House Speaker had the longest tenure in our history and the Republican Senate leader almost has squatter rights, having already served 13 years and elected to another two.

2012 was the first year that North Carolina counties elected Commissions controlled by Republicans. By 2018, the GOP controlled 59 of the 100 county boards. They now hold 71. Democrats still control the largest counties, but they are losing ground.

64 of our Sheriffs are Republicans, 54 Clerks of Court and, of the 170 partisan school board races, Republicans won 138 and Democrats 26. Our State Supreme Court has a 5-2 Republican plurality, and our 15-member Court of Appeals has 12 to 3 Republican majority. Before 1994 there was just one Republican Superior Court Judge. In November Republicans won 21 judgeships and Democrats won 12.

Putting all the pieces of this puzzle together the picture becomes clear: Democrats have lost and continue to lose ground statewide.

I have been reading extensively about the subject and have a few conclusions. Democrats have become a national party which isn’t in touch with the voting majority. They once proudly boasted they were solidly in support of the middle class, but Democrats today consist largely of well-to-do, more highly educated and affluent leaders who don’t relate well to the working class, especially black and brown voters.

Democrats misread the angry mood of voters, trying to convince them of how well the economy was performing. But those with weekly paychecks were encountering real time price increases and didn’t care about the national picture; they just saw how they were affected. As James Carville, the Democratic election guru said, the economy was, is, and will forever be the single biggest campaign issue.

Carville believes there are three issues Democrats should harp on to win nationally. First, he says two-thirds of people believe that Roe v. Wade protections need to be codified nationally. Democrats should also strongly advocate for a $15 per hour minimum wage and insist on tax increases for those earning more than $400k per year. The “Ragin’ Cajun” says Republicans can’t and won’t support any of these issues.

What are some issues North Carolina Democrats can own that Republicans won’t support? They can focus on the out-of-control power hungry legislature that is destroying the balance of power, inserting itself in everyday life, cutting taxes to the point where lower state revenues will reduce our rainy-day funds and threaten valuable services. They have gerrymandered themselves into lifetime officeholding and are dismantling public education in favor of giving wealthy white parents vouchers to attend private school.

A day of reckoning has arrived if North Carolina Democrats wish to regain control of our state.

Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965.  Contact him at tomcamp@carolinabroadcasting.com