Barry Smith of the John Locke Foundation publication Carolina Journal lays out "the magnitude of the dramatic gains made by the Republicans in the Nov. 6 election." He said a postelection briefing by the N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation showed:
"Republicans picked up three congressional seats in the state, with one seat (the 7th District) still in doubt. In that district, incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre holding a razor-thin 411-vote lead over GOP state Sen. David Rouzer. The GOP also picked up seats in the 8th, 11th, and 13th Districts... The gains for the Republicans mean that they will enjoy a nine-to-four advantage in the states congressional delegate. Currently, Democrats hold a seven-to six advantage.
"Republicans also padded their majorities in the General Assembly. When lawmakers convene in Raleigh in January, Republicans will have a 32-18 advantage in the Senate (currently it’s 31-19) and a 77-43 majority in the House (currently it’s 68-52)."
The foundation also found:
• The new Senate will have 13 freshman members, five Democrats and eight Republicans.
• Thirty of the 50 senators next year will be serving in either their first or second term.
• Half of the members of the Democratic Senate caucus — nine of 18 —will be African-American.
• There will be 43 freshman members of the House next year – 12 Democrats and 31 Republicans.
• Sixty-nine of the 120 representatives will be serving in either their first or second terms.
• Twenty-two of the 43 House Democratic caucus members will be African-American.
Key reasons for N.C. GOP gains are no secret: Republican lawmakers redrew district lines in the state to give GOP candidates in several districts an advantage, and Republicans outspent Democrats to help get their candidates elected. That's politics. It's what Democrats did in the past to Republicans.
Progressives bemoaned the outcome, with Chris Fitzsimon, director of N.C. Policy Watch, calling the N.C. Democratic Party a "party in shambles, marred by internal scandals and open feuds between party leaders and top elected officials that made fundraising almost impossible."
He's right.
"Add it all up" (the redistricting, the money and Democrats' self-inflicted wounds) "and it’s a recipe for electoral disaster of historic proportions for Democrats and that’s what happened, the worst general election in memory, even as much of the nation was headed in a progressive direction," Fitzsimon writes.
N.C. Democrats, like Republicans nationally, will have to have a come-to-Jesus moment and find a path to some governing authority in the future. It won't be easy or quick. Many experienced Democratic legislators are gone - either leaving voluntarily or being ousted by voters. Who's in the pipeline or could be to be a charismatic and visionary leader or leaders of the Dems and the state is still an open question?
Fitzsimon says for now progressives should be prepared for a right-wing assault with GOP lawmakers in the General Assembly pushing a far-right agenda.
The saving grace could be Pat McCrory, the former Charlotte mayor elected governor - the first GOP governor in 20 years. Said Fitzsimon: "That’s what in store after the election debacle for progressives unless McCrory himself steps in and leaves his campaign rhetoric behind and governs the state like he governed Charlotte, as a moderately conservative mayor who supported public investments in things like mass transit and economic development."
With some of McCrory's far-right picks to help with his transition, you've got to wonder if that's likely.
Posted by Fannie Flono
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