The 2020 Presidential Election in North Carolina

Donald Trump won North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election by a margin of 74,00 votes or 1.3 percentage points. Compared to 2016, this was an improvement of 2.4 points for the Democrats and 0.1 points for the Republicans, a worrying sign for the GOP in that state. This sounds like good news for Democrats, right? Well, not exactly because polling had indicated that Joe Biden was ahead of Donald Trump by 1.8 points, a slim but significant lead. This advantage crumbled on election night, leading to other Democratic losses across the state, from the state legislature, to a prized US Senate seat between Tom Tillis and Cal Cunningham. So what went wrong? According to a critical strategist in North Carolina, the Democratic voter outreach could have been much better, and more like Georgias. What he’s saying is that the messaging of the North Carolina Democratic Party could have been centered around voter registration, and making sure the right people could get out and vote. That’s what happened in Georgia, they got the right people out to vote and made sure they were registered. In North Carolina, they didn’t really accomplish that. On top of that, another major factor was the lack of voter enthusiasm for Joe Biden. In 2008, with Obama on the ticket, people were excited to vote for the first black president. This enthusiasm carried Obama to victory in North Carolina, the last time since 1976 when Jimmy Carter won in a landslide. But with Joe Biden that wasn’t the case, and the only thing that really motivated voters was to get Donald Trump out of office. While this was something the Democrats heavily capitalized on, to win a state, that really is not enough. Organizers on the ground believe that the Democrats also relied too heavily on consultants and strategists that were out of state. Essentially, they that big fancy firms wouldn’t carry the state, but more local officials that understand the landscape and truly understand what goes through voters heads. And this was proven true. The one person in the entire state that understands people's problems, Governor Roy Cooper, was the one Democrat to win statewide. He said he would fight for Medicaid Expansion even in a divided legislature, which stuck with everyday voters. This message, and promise, can probably be contributed to why he was able to win. The other, more high profile Democrats didn’t put policy at the forefront of their campaigns, most likely why Democrats lost across the state. Luckily for the Democrats, there is a US Senator retiring in 2022, and if they can learn from their mistakes, we may see the first Democratic senator from North Carolina in 8 years. So this article ends like most when talking about the Democratic party, their outreach failed. Among the public, the Democrat's policies and ideas are very favorable, especially more affordable health care, hence why Obamacare was introduced. If they are able to correctly market their policies to voters, then they would have a much easier chance at winning states across the country. So its time for Democrats to take a few notes from 2020, whether it be about voter outreach or the candidates that do the best, it is time for change within the party.