New voters may have kept NC purple, expert says

CHARLOTTE — Once again, North Carolina has proven itself to be a purple state.

Voters in the 2024 election chose a Republican candidate for president and a Democratic governor, something that has happened five times in the last seven presidential elections.

Channel 9 reporter Evan Donovan talked to about two dozen voters across different parts of the state on Wednesday—from the Triangle to the Triad to midtown Charlotte—and none of them fit the profile.

But they are out there, and political science experts continue to try to understand why they vote the way they do.

“The results were pretty purple, and much more so than other states, it looks like,” said Chris Cooper, political science professor at Western Carolina University, and author of the book “Anatomy of a Purple State.” Cooper says new residents to the Tar Heel State may have kept it purple in this election—and possibly moving forward.

“We gained a congressional seat from the last time we did the Census to this time,” said Cooper. “Those new voters are overwhelmingly unaffiliated, so it’s a bit harder to tell exactly which way they’re going to lean in terms of partisanship.”

Several voters emailed Channel 9 after this story aired to explain why they voted for Trump and Stein.

“I did,” said a public school teacher in Stanly County who did not want to use her name. “I am an independent. I don’t vote on party lines; I vote on policy.  As a woman, reproductive rights are very important to me, thus I voted for Josh Stein and against Mark Robinson.”

“While I debated about voting for Trump because I can’t stand the man, ultimately, I just couldn’t risk another four years of inflation and war,” the teacher said. “I’m hopeful that he can pull us out of this mess. His personality and rhetoric will drive me nuts, but if he can do the job, I can tune that out.”

Donovan also spoke to several Republicans who did not want to go on camera. They said they voted for Trump for president but skipped the governor’s race because they didn’t like Republican candidate Mark Robinson.

That type of “under-voting” is common in elections. It can happen purposefully, as in the example above, or because of ballot fatigue, where voters simply don’t fill out races down-ballot because they don’t know or care enough about them or get tired of the voting process.

The under-vote in North Carolina this year was more pronounced than in years past.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 105,430 more North Carolinians voted in the presidential race than in the governor’s race. That difference is bigger than the last three presidential elections combined.

A Republican source told Channel 9 they blamed Robinson for Republican losses down the ballot in North Carolina. Democrats picked up one seat on the Council of State, recording wins in the race for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and superintendent of Public Instruction.

Under-voting is not the same as abstaining where voters simply don’t vote altogether but both can hurt candidates from either party.

The under-vote this year may have hurt Robinson in the governor’s race. Millions of voters abstaining may have hurt Kamala Harris: votes are still being counted, but as of Wednesday afternoon, about 7 million fewer Americans voted in this presidential race than in 2020.

CLICK HERE for NC Governor vs. President results.

©2024 Cox Media Group