{"id":594369,"date":"2023-10-15T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/north-carolina-emerges-as-2024-battleground-for-democrats\/"},"modified":"2023-10-15T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-15T10:00:00","slug":"north-carolina-emerges-as-2024-battleground-for-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/north-carolina-emerges-as-2024-battleground-for-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"#North Carolina emerges as 2024 battleground for Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/voting_nc_110322getty_north-carolina.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>North Carolina is likely to\u00a0emerge\u00a0as a major battleground in 2024, with Democrats viewing the state as a potential flip opportunity in the presidential election.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The state has regularly made for a\u00a0relatively close\u00a0contest for years, with several presidential,\u00a0gubernatorial\u00a0and senatorial candidates winning by no more than a few percentage points. Democrats have found more success\u00a0historically\u00a0with the governor\u2019s race, while Republicans have taken\u00a0federal elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But\u00a0members of both parties said North Carolina will be in play\u00a0again next year, with Democrats making\u00a0possibly their\u00a0most concerted effort in recent years to take the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do expect a lot more attention here than in the past, not to say we didn\u2019t get attention in the past, but it\u2019s probably going to be much more intense in 2024,\u201d said North Carolina-based Democratic strategist Douglas Wilson.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>North Carolina is not new to its status as a swing state.\u00a0Former President\u00a0Obama carried the state\u2019s 15 electoral votes on his way to\u00a0victory in 2008.\u00a0But Republicans won the state in the following three presidential races \u2014 2012, 2016 and 2020 \u2014 though by no more than a few points.<\/p>\n<p>Wilson said\u00a0he believes the state is \u201ctrending purple\u201d because of the population growth in its cities.\u00a0But he said some obstacles from the past have hurt Democrats\u2019 chances, and challenges in the present could make winning the state more difficult.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said presidential campaigns, especially if an incumbent is running for reelection as President Biden is this time, often only begin \u201csetting up shop\u201d in the spring or summer of an election year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn North Carolina, you need to start talking to voters early, and you need to have folks on the ground early,\u201d Wilson said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>He pointed to Obama\u2019s 2008 campaign\u00a0in which he developed an effective campaign infrastructure in North Carolina during the primaries to win the state against Hillary Clinton. He then continued\u00a0his operation there and went on to win the state over Republican John McCain by about 0.3 points.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wilson said Biden should be developing a presence in the state now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Biden campaign said in a memo released earlier this year that it will look to expand Democrats\u2019 electoral map to include North Carolina.\u00a0A <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/elections\/2023\/05\/15\/biden-north-carolina-florida-2024-election\/\">campaign spokesperson\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0The Washington Post in May the campaign expects the state to be competitive and will invest \u201cearly and accordingly.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Republican strategist Doug Heye, who has worked on several North Carolina campaigns,\u00a0said\u00a0Obama was able to catch \u201ceverybody by surprise\u201d while state and national Republicans were \u201casleep at the switch\u201d because they did not expect it to be competitive. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said growth in areas like Charlotte and Raleigh means Republicans\u00a0cannot take the state for granted anymore.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Heye said Obama\u2019s victory was seen as a \u201cfluke,\u201d but North Carolina was the second-closest state in 2012 and stayed close in 2016 and 2020 \u2014 in the latter, Biden lost to\u00a0then-President Trump by\u00a0less than 1.5 points.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThe lesson or the takeaway should be this is going to be a close state and should not be taken for granted,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the state,\u00a0I think people\u00a0get that. Nationally, they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0get it at all.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He warned that the\u00a0likely GOP\u00a0nominees for the presidency, Trump, and the governor\u2019s race, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, could pose difficulties for the party\u2019s success in the state in 2024.\u00a0He said the number of suburban women in and near Raleigh has increased from past years, requiring Republicans to work hard for their votes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Exit polls have\u00a0shown\u00a0that Democrats\u2019 share of suburban women has been\u00a0largely increasing\u00a0gradually, and suburban voters in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> were key to their victories in 2020 and 2022.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t want to give those voters a reason to turn away from you,\u201d Heye said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said Robinson could cause headaches for the party with several controversial statements he has made in the past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Robinson has\u00a0made <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/politics-government\/election\/article246284085.html\">numerous\u00a0derogatory\u00a0comments<\/a>\u00a0online criticizing Jews, Muslims, transgender\u00a0people\u00a0and Black people who support Democrats.\u00a0Some of those comments include that Muslims are \u201cinvaders,\u201d\u00a0that Obama is a \u201cworthless anti-American atheist\u201d and that those who \u201csupport this mass delusion called transgenderism\u201d are trying to \u201cturn God\u2019s creation\u00a0backwards and\u00a0make it into a sickening image of rebellion to glorify Satan.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Heye noted that Robinson issued a proclamation in support of Israel while serving as acting governor amid the attacks from Hamas, but he was\u00a0\u201cim<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely\u201d asked about his\u00a0previous\u00a0antisemitic comments.\u00a0Robinson\u00a0sought\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/politics-government\/article280439779.html\">to\u00a0walk back<\/a>\u00a0some comments and asserted he had never been antisemitic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to cause distractions for the state party, it\u2019s going to define the race negatively, and they\u2019ve got a good competent Democrat who\u2019s running who\u2019s very vanilla, which I mean as a good thing, who just won\u2019t have made those kinds of mistakes,\u201d Heye said, referring to the\u00a0likely Democratic\u00a0nominee, state Attorney General Josh Stein.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Republican strategist Jonathan Felts, who served\u00a0as an adviser to Sen. Ted Budd\u2019s (R-N.C.) Senate campaign,\u00a0argued that Republicans have seen wide success in the state despite being \u201cmassively\u201d outspent in many races.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>He said Gov. Roy Cooper (D) won his first election in 2016 against an unpopular incumbent, Pat McCrory, and significantly outspent his Republican challenger for reelection in 2020 to win\u00a0by only a few points.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democrats and Republicans said they expect honing a strong economic message to support working families will be key to success.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorth Carolina will be like a lot of other states in that it\u2019s going to be a referendum on who do you think is the biggest fighter for working families, and I think Donald Trump and Mark Robinson \u2026 are much better suited for that argument than are Joe Biden and Josh Stein,\u201d Felts said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democrats said their <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach needs to be rallying the significant minority population and rural voters to\u00a0become more engaged in the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p>Cynthia Wallace,\u00a0the co-founder of\u00a0a nonprofit called the\u00a0New Rural Project, said\u00a0political observers often presume not enough voters are available in rural areas to affect an election. <\/p>\n<p>But she pointed to the 2020 state Supreme Court race in which the Republican defeated the Democrat by about\u00a0400 votes out of 5 million cast as\u00a0proof it can be critical.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She co-founded the nonprofit after unsuccessfully running for the House in 2020 to\u00a0engage voters of color, especially in rural areas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of disengaged voters who are not showing up at the polls who could change the outcome of slim 1-to-3-percentage-margin victories,\u201d Wallace said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wallace noted that unlike Georgia, a state Democrats were able to flip blue in 2020 through engaging wide swaths of Black voters in Atlanta, North Carolina does not have an \u201curban center\u201d to make that same kind of engagement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She said North Carolina is one of the most rural states in the country, so \u201cyou cannot change the trajectory of who gets elected without changing the trajectory of rural North Carolina.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gabe Esparza, a Democratic candidate for state treasurer, pointed to the state\u2019s growing Latino population\u00a0as an opportunity for Democrats. He noted that the state has the fastest rate of growth of Latino residents anywhere in the country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality is in North Carolina that we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0need hundreds of thousands or millions of Latinos to vote to win. We just need a few extra thousand, let alone a few extra hundred, because of how close the races always are,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Esparza argued that his background as a Latino and integration with the community will give Democrats an opportunity to make the difference they need with this group.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said the voting-age population of Latinos in the state will\u00a0greatly increase\u00a0soon, adding that the school-age\u00a0population is higher than the overall Latino population by a 2-1 ratio.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0not as if this is going to be decades and decades and decades, it is coming. But as others have said, political power is not given,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0taken,\u201d Esparza said. \u201cWe need to actually go out and compete on the merits and be able to communicate compelling arguments that allow us to win at the ballot\u00a0box.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/4255156-north-carolina-emerges-as-2024-battleground-for-democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Carolina is likely to\u00a0emerge\u00a0as a major battleground in 2024, with Democrats viewing the state as a potential flip opportunity in the presidential election.\u00a0 The state has regularly made for a\u00a0relatively close\u00a0contest for years, with several presidential,\u00a0gubernatorial\u00a0and senatorial candidates winning by no more than a few percentage points. Democrats have found more success\u00a0historically\u00a0with the governor\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":594370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/voting_nc_110322getty_north-carolina.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134344,134343,134353,138227,991,146450,40445,115,125973,70289],"class_list":["post-594369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-administration","tag-campaign","tag-court-battles","tag-doug-heye","tag-joe-biden","tag-mark-robinson","tag-media","tag-news","tag-obama","tag-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}