Should Democrats give up on North Carolina?

[MATTROSE94]

Cal Cunningham ineptness contributed his loss in NC

ACB’s nomination raised Thom Tillis’ stature, so he might have won anyway even if Cal Cunningham never had his sex scandal.

[GALeftist]

If a state as relatively populous as NC appears swingy, it's worth the investment until proven otherwise. NC has been consistently tight and not nearly as Titanium Tilt R as Florida, so obviously no.

[KaiserDave]

What, of course not this is insanity

[pppolitics]

By the way, just to give you an idea of how stupid this question is, Biden is about as close to winning NC as Trump is to winning Pennsylvania

And nobody is going to ask: Should Republicans give up on Pennsylvania?

[MT Treasurer]

Obviously not. The pro-R rural/small-town swing/trend was either non-existent or nowhere near as strong as some had predicted. What saved Republicans was the fact that several populous blood-red exurbs actually trended R and that D gains in the metros weren’t as dramatic as they could have been (no guarantee that this will continue into the future).

I had thought that this election would cement the state's status as (strong) lean R, but it is looking more like a Tilt R state to me now. It’s also one of only three states to have trended D in every election since 2004 (WA and AK are the other two).

[JGibson]

No way. NC is a tossup/Tilt-R state to me.

[Rookie Yinzer]

What was up with Biden doing worse than Hillary in the Black counties upstate? He also did worse than her in the string of rural counties to the east of Charlotte.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

How many states does a party "give up" before relegating itself to permanent minority status? Ohio, Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Montana... even Republicans are fighting like hell to keep states that are trending away from them, and it's clear that unless Democrats stop conceding entire states, they're going to have a huge Senate problem for years to come. Arkansas, Louisiana, the Dakotas, Indiana, Missouri, and West Virginia downballot are already gone. That's twelve states and twenty four Senate seats gone, all where Democrats had at least one senator in the last decade. And there aren't enough states trending fast enough for Democrats to make up for all those.

[MargieCat]

No.

Some democrats did win downballot. Which means that people are ok with ticketsplitting.

Plus the Triangle, Triad, and Charlotte are growing at a fast rate, with more liberal voters coming in.

It will follow in Georgia's footsteps.

Florida on the other hand seems like a lost cause.

Unlikely. There a lot of differences between these two states.

What sort of differences?

Georgia is more concentrated having one major metro area (Atlanta).

North Carolina doesn't have anything as big as Atlanta but it has several decent sized (and growing) metro areas. Charlotte, the Triangle, the Triad, as well as mountain and coastal areas that are facing growth.

But both states are moving leftwards. It's just that Georgia finally dropped this year.

[Yellowhammer]

What was up with Biden doing worse than Hillary in the Black counties upstate? He also did worse than her in the string of rural counties to the east of Charlotte.

More black people out there voted for Trump, deal with it

[It's not just that you are a crook senator]

No, it is always possible for dems to win various statewide races including the presidential election in a good year.

On the other hand I dont see NC trending anyway, it looks pretty static.

[Catalyst138]

If Republicans had this attitude they would never have won Michigan. So no.

And Democrats literally got elected statewide in North Carolina THIS year.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It's wave insurance states, D's have 300 EC votes with 279 EC votes and OH and AZ sitting right there. FL continues to vote on its embargo interest not based on PR statehood and GA, NC, OH and AZ, are trending more D than TX and FL

If Jeff Jackson runs for Senate in 2022 it's a Tossup, otherwise Tilt R

[Annatar]

No, but the trend has slowed since 2008, this is how NC has voted vs the nation since 2000:

2000: R+13.3
2004: R+10
2008: R+6.9
2012: R+5.9
2016: R+5.8
2020: R+5.7*

Assuming Biden wins nationally by 4.4%.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

What was up with Biden doing worse than Hillary in the Black counties upstate? He also did worse than her in the string of rural counties to the east of Charlotte.

Blacks swung to trump.
God help us all

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

What was up with Biden doing worse than Hillary in the Black counties upstate? He also did worse than her in the string of rural counties to the east of Charlotte.

Blacks swung to trump.
God help us all

In some ways, it is less concerning than a racial divide.

[It’s so Joever]

Biden almost lost Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania despite lots of campaigning in the region. Should Democrats abandon those states as well?

[Alben Barkley]

Biden almost lost Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania despite lots of campaigning in the region. Should Democrats abandon those states as well?

Biden didn’t “almost lose” Michigan unless you think Trump “almost lost” Florida, as they were about equally as close. (And Michigan was the only one you thought Trump would win LOL) Funny how nobody ever thinks about it that way — it’s not the Republicans who “almost lose” swing states, it’s Democrats who fail miserably to win them or barely win/almost lose them. Democrats who should just give up entirely on states that were much closer than states Republicans should still aggressively target.

Again, loser mentality at work. Just sad.

[It’s so Joever]

Biden almost lost Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania despite lots of campaigning in the region. Should Democrats abandon those states as well?

Biden didn’t “almost lose” Michigan unless you think Trump “almost lost” Florida, as they were about equally as close. (And Michigan was the only one you thought Trump would win LOL) Funny how nobody ever thinks about it that way — it’s not the Republicans who “almost lose” swing states, it’s Democrats who fail miserably to win them or barely win/almost lose them. Democrats who should just give up entirely on states that were much closer than states Republicans should still aggressively target.

Again, loser mentality at work. Just sad.

Clearly my sarcasm fell flat.

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

As some others have said, NC isn't as demographically friendly to dems as GA in this new environment.

There are fewer black voters in North Carolina than Georgia, and while most rural white Democrats in GA made the switch in 2000, this trend is continuing in NC. The research Triangle and Charlotte may be trending to the Democrats, but this trend gets canceled out by rural white trend to the GOP and a smaller number of black voters. I think North Carolina is in a state of titanium tilt R, at least for now.

That said, the Democrats should not give up. Population growth is higher in the urban/metro areas than rural areas, so once the GOP maxes out in rural areas and/or remaining blue dogs die out, there's a clear path in NC very similar to the one in GA that gave Biden the state.

[SN2903]

No. North Carolina will probably narrowly vote Democratic in 2024. It’ll be titanium tilt Democratic by 2032.

No. It's gonna stay GOP for a while.

[The Mikado]

It is literally absurd to post a thread asking this about a state that just voted 50-49.

[The Mikado]

Update:

https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1331370641447120897

Imagine wanting to give up on a state you got 48.6% of the vote in. Such malarkey.

[MasterJedi]

No. North Carolina will probably narrowly vote Democratic in 2024. It’ll be titanium tilt Democratic by 2032.

No. It's gonna stay GOP for a while.

About as much as Trump won the election, right?

[Pericles]

They need it to win the Senate, and if the Midwest shifts further away from them it could be a useful compensating state.