Voters seek cooperation after dividing government between Democrats, Republicans

Pundits have spent recent weeks parsing North Carolina’s election results. They have searched for clues about messages voters sent to elected officials who will run state government in the new year.

The most recent Carolina Journal Poll might provide more clarity. Conducted Nov. 17-19 among 615 voters, the poll looked beyond electoral horse races and delved into voters’ priorities.

At first glance, election results presented a split decision about North Carolina’s political future.

Donald Trump won 78 counties as he became the first presidential candidate since Franklin Roosevelt to secure the state’s electoral votes three times in a row. Taking a majority of the state’s popular vote for the first time, his victory margin (3.2 points) was more than twice as large as the one he enjoyed in 2020. His 183,000-vote lead over Vice President Kamala Harris was larger than the gap between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

While Republicans cheered that news, Democrats also had reasons to celebrate. As the GOP picked up three seats in North Carolina’s congressional delegation, Democrats won the state’s only competitive congressional race. They racked up a 15-point victory in winning a third straight governor’s election, netted a gain of one Council of State seat, and blocked a veto-proof Republican supermajority in the state House of Representatives.

Republicans swept three statewide contests for seats on the Court of Appeals, but Democrats saved a spot on North Carolina’s Supreme Court by the slimmest of margins.

Those mixed results translated into major improvements in North Carolina voters’ assessment of whether the state and nation are heading in the right direction. Just 27% of those polled in September believed the nation was heading in the right direction, with 63% saying the country was on the wrong track. The post-election survey found that 48% now say the nation is heading in the right direction, with 43% choosing the more pessimistic option.

As for the state, the “right direction” answer polled at 50%, up from 33% in September and 38% in October. Just 28% of respondents believe the state is on the wrong track, compared to 53% who chose that option in September and 45% in October.

There’s a clear partisan split. While 91% of Republicans chose the “right direction” answer nationally, just 8% of Democrats agreed, with 47% of independents supporting the optimistic option.

Though the electoral news was stronger for Democrats at the state level, Republicans still expressed the most optimism about North Carolina’s future. Among GOP respondents, 60% believed North Carolina is heading in the right direction. That number was higher than the 46% of Democrats and 48% of independents who chose the same option.

Some 69% of voters expressed confidence that the election was “free and fair,” compared to 26% who expressed little or no confidence.

As Trump’s win stood out from the mixed bag of state results, the Carolina Journal Poll asked voters about their satisfaction with election outcomes. Some 26% expressed satisfaction with both state and national results. Another 25% liked what happened nationally while expressing disappointment with state outcomes. A plurality (34%) disliked the national results but liked what happened with state elections.

Those results tracked independents’ views fairly closely. In contrast, 91% of Republicans expressed overall satisfaction or satisfaction with the national results alone, while 64% of Democrats disliked the national results but showed satisfaction with state-level outcomes.

Despite clear differences among partisans, 90% of those surveyed said it was important “that a new Democratic governor and a Republican-led General Assembly try to reach compromise” on major issues. Just 7% disagreed with that notion. Independents (87%) were slightly less likely than either Republicans (89%) or Democrats (94%) to assign great importance to compromise.

As Gov.-elect Josh Stein and Republican legislative leaders prepare for the new year, voters also signaled which issues top their list of concerns.

Given the chance to select two options from 11 choices, 32% of respondents listed cutting taxes as a top priority. Improving state infrastructure (27%), increasing education spending (25%), and increasing government transparency (20%) proved to be the next-most-popular choices. Reducing government spending (17%), hurricane relief and recovery (16%), protecting free speech (14%), and protecting the environment (13%) also attracted double-digit support.

North Carolinians remain split on whether Democrats or Republicans should hold the upper hand in setting state government policy. Some voters clearly seek to split power between the parties. But roughly nine in 10 want elected leaders to work across party lines to handle important issues.

Pundits and politicians ought to keep those views in mind heading into 2025.

Mitch Kokai is senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation.