North Carolina Democrats won big. Now comes the hard part.
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Democrats in North Carolina's state legislature, long relegated to the sidelines during lawmaking, gained new life in this week's midterms.
Why it matters: North Carolinians delivered a resounding rejection of Republicans on Election Day, flipping at least two dozen state and congressional seats.
- Now, Democrats must piece together a strategy for governing — including how to work with Republicans should they keep a narrow hold over the N.C. Senate.
What they're saying: Anderson Clayton, chair of the N.C. Democratic Party, said her party needs to use the momentum of Tuesday's election to continue introducing its newest legislators to voters and make them household names.
- She said Democrats plan to go to the legislative districts they just won in the coming weeks to give away food before Thanksgiving and highlight the effects of Republican cuts to SNAP.
- Democrats need to make sure "that people know they're not just going to show up right before an election, but they're just going to keep their boots on the ground year-round," she said.
By the numbers: The Democratic Party will soon control the N.C. House and already hold the governorship. N.C. Senate control hinges on one not-yet-called race.
- Democrats flipped at least 17 N.C. House and four N.C. Senate seats, with several races uncalled. An unaffiliated candidate also ousted a Republican. No Republicans flipped seats.
- Clayton said Democrats' success was driven by Roy Cooper's popularity, but also by increased investment in rural communities. She believes those investments helped several congressional districts flip.
- "When I came into this job," she said she wasn't "asking to win rural North Carolina over. I [was] asking to increase the margins that we have in these communities, and that's to me what we saw as a ground-winning effect on Election Night."
Between the lines: Democratic leaders say they're waiting to see whether Republicans control the N.C. Senate, and if so whether they will be willing to work with Democrats on legislation and things like budget making.
- "I'm eager to sit down with the leadership of the new House, the leadership of the new Senate, so that we can agree on what the right priorities are," Gov. Josh Stein told reporters Wednesday, adding that voters "want a government to focus on their needs and not on … partisan political payback or social war issues."
Zoom in: The blue wave didn't sink three GOP-written constitutional amendments on tax policy and voter ID. Stein said he considered the amendments "a con job on the people of North Carolina."
- "The problem is, is it would have taken tens of millions of dollars to educate [voters], because if you say to somebody, 'Do you want to pay no more than 3.5% income tax?' with no more information … the majority of voters are going to say, 'Sure,'" Stein said. "But here's the deal: if there is a recession, working people are going to be the ones who bear the cost of that, not the well-to-do, not the wealthy — those who can afford to pay."
- Clayton said Democrats must develop a strategy for upping corporate tax rates to make up for lost income tax revenue.
State of play: One amendment directs the Legislature to write into law a separate cap on property tax increases, something Democrats argue is overreach on local authority.
- "I hope that the Legislature is very restrained in what it does," Stein said.
What's next: Republicans planned a lame-duck legislative session this month and could squeeze in some last-minute GOP priorities before Democrats take control of the House and gear up for 2028. Democrats don't fully know what to expect.
- Stein told reporters a Republican-led session isn't needed because "the voters spoke pretty daggone loud last night about who they want making decisions for them."