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    • Tom Campbell writes about the Democrats’ electoral performance
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    Tom Campbell writes about the Democrats’ electoral performance

    Sakege Posted on

    Tom Campbell
    | Guest columnist

    There is no other way to describe the general election than to say that Republicans enjoyed a surprising victory, winning the presidency, both houses of Congress, and a large number of state and local races.

    Democrats were stunned and wondered how they could have been so wrong. Truth be told, they misinterpreted or were misled by erroneous assumptions. It cost them a lot.

    Pollsters certainly misled Democrats, repeatedly saying the presidential race was too close to be called in “battleground states.” The results revealed the opposite. Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina were called by Trump before midnight, and at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, Wisconsin provided Trump with more than the 270 electoral college votes he needed to win outright. Come January, Republicans will control all three branches of the federal government.

    Democrats had campaigned on the belief that Donald Trump was an anomaly: He did not speak for the norm of American voters. New York Times journalist Peter Baker said the problem for Democrats was that Trump and his followers were the norm, and Democrats were the anomaly. Former senator Claire McCaskill said anger and fear proved more powerful than appealing to our better angels.

    More by Tom Campbell Opinion: Here are questions to ask yourself before casting your vote

    North Carolina Democrats’ hopes were buoyed by record 57 percent voter turnout in early voting. But Democrats misinterpreted red flags about who voted. Republicans cast the largest number of early votes, and African-American votes were much smaller than expected.

    Trump had only beaten Biden by just 1.3 percentage points in 2020 in our state. Democrats believed they could overcome that margin. Bad again. Trump beat Harris by almost 4 percentage points.

    They missed another red flag. Elaine Marshall, who had always been a top vote-getter in the seven elections she had won as Secretary of State, continued to tell friends and followers that polls showed her in a close race this year. Most ruled out this possibility, believing that they would once again achieve an easy victory. He won, but by less than 2 percent.

    Republican Mark Robinson was never a serious factor in the governor’s race. Turns out the polls were pretty accurate, showing Democrat Josh Stein with a 14-point lead. But given his opponent’s weakness, Stein should have won by more than the actual 14.7 percent he got. Likewise, in the election of Lieutenant Governor. State Sen. Rachel Hunt, daughter of the four-time governor, criticized Hal Weatherman, former chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who had never run for state office. That margin should have been much larger than 1.7 percent.

    There were two closely followed elections for the State Council. Two sitting congressmen were vying to become our state’s Attorney General: Republican Dan Bishop and Democrat Jeff Jackson. Jackson raised the most money, ran the strongest campaign, and reminded voters that Bishop had been the primary sponsor of HB2, the highly unpopular “bathroom bill.” Jackson won, but by just over 2 and a half points.

    The race for Superintendent of Public Instruction had been strange from the beginning. Michele Morrow defeated incumbent Catherine Truitt in the March primary. Truitt was considered by many to have been a good superintendent, but Morrow won Trump’s endorsement. Like Robinson, she had not been adequately investigated. As details about her and her positions became known, she was labeled a radical… or worse. Mo Green, the Democratic candidate and former Guilford County schools superintendent, ended up victorious, but again by less than 2 percent.

    Election coverage: How did New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties vote in the presidential election?

    Insurance Superintendent Mike Causey and Agriculture Superintendent Steve Troxler won re-election fairly easily. The race for State Auditor was a little more interesting. When incumbent Beth Wood resigned, Governor Cooper appointed Jessica Holmes to fill her seat until the election, hoping that her tenure would propel her to win a term outright. His opponent, Dave Boliek, was a more active activist, raised more money and had experience as president of the UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. Boliek won by almost 2 percent.

    Two newcomers competed to become the next Labor Commissioner. Republican Luke Farley, the more visible of the two, won by 5 points. And the State Treasurer seat was left vacant, with Republican Brad Briner defeating Wesley Harris by 5 points.

    Democrats took a beating in statewide judicial elections, with incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs narrowly losing her Supreme Court seat to Jefferson Griffin. Our highest court will now be made up of 6 Republicans and 1 Democrat. Three Republicans swept the open seats on the 15-member Court of Appeals. The Republican Party will control two of the three branches of state government.

    There were a couple of bright spots for Democrats. They won a seat on the ten-member State Council and prevented a veto-proof majority in the state House. This should help Governor Stein in negotiations with the legislature.

    Regardless of how you evaluate this election, it was not a good night for Democrats, either in our state or nationally.

    Tom Campbell is a North Carolina Hall of Fame broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965. Contact him at [email protected].

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