Some encouraging news--early voting numbers in North Carolina are running well ahead of the pace from 2010, even though the GOP-controlled General Assembly cut a week from the early voting period.
Statewide, some 428,000 residents voted early as of Tuesday morning. That mark wasn’t reached until 11 days of early voting four years ago. Early voting ends Saturday.
Experts say turnout is largely being driven by the country’s most expensive U.S. Senate race. Incumbent Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan and Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis are expected to spend more than $100 million on a race that polls show is statistically even. In 2010, the race at the top of the ballot was a relatively quiet re-election bid for incumbent Sen. Richard Burr.
Those numbers are well ahead of the typical numbers for a midterm election. To my mind, that can only be good news for the blue team.
If you're supporting Hagan, there's a number that should lift you up even more. Early voting numbers in Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, are also running well ahead of the pace from 2010.
As of Tuesday morning – five days into the early voting session – about 37,000 Mecklenburg County residents had voted.
That’s about 5,000 more ballots than were cast during the same period in the 2010 midterm elections.
For those who don't know, the I-85 Corridor--Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle--has been the linchpin for Democratic success in North Carolina in recent years. Charlotte, my hometown, has turned an almost unrecognizable shade of blue--it gave Barack Obama over 60 percent of the vote in both 2008 and 2012 after John Kerry barely won here in 2004. I haven't been able to get my hands on numbers for Guiliford, Forsyth, Durham and Wake counties--homes to Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham and Raleigh, respectively. But if the statewide numbers are up, you can bet the numbers for those counties are pretty close to what Mecklenburg is generating. It's really simple. The more people in blue counties who turn out, the easier it is for Hagan to bank a lead.
It's not likely the map for this race is going to look anything like 2008's map. I still remember that lovely swatch of blue in the east. But if these numbers are any indication, Hagan could very well be positioned to make Jesse Helms turn in his grave. Let's finish it, North Carolina. Vote early, and if not then, be sure to get out on Tuesday.