NORTH CAROLINA OPEN THREAD Sunday, November 5, 2022
389th WEEKLY EDITION
This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue. We hope this weekly platform gives readers interested in North Carolina politics a place to share their knowledge, insight and inspiration as we take back our state from some of the most extreme Republicans in the nation. Please join us every week. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads.
If you are interested in starting your own state blog, weekly to occasionally, we will list your work below.
Colorado: Mondays, 7:00 PM Mountain
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Missouri: Wednesday Evenings
Kansas: Monday Evenings
Something you want to highlight? kosmail or email at randalltdkos at gmail. Twitter: @randallt
POSTED COVID data 11/6/2022 1:00pm EDT North Carolina
Click here for Covid-19 data from Worldometer Real Time World Statistics.
Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active
10/30 3,237,440 26,953 3,197,655 12,832
11/6 3,246,175 27,234 3,206,976 11,965
Track NC Covid Data Track NC Vaccine Data
Please jump the fold for links to interesting news stories and opinion pieces.
Facing south, Sue Sturgis, 11/4/2022
The sign appeared at the New Hanover County Republican Party booth at the voting site in Carolina Beach, a town about 10 miles south of the city of Wilmington. A Democratic Party volunteer took the photo and shared it with this reporter. They said they had seen the same sign there a week earlier but hadn't photographed it.
"It's time to take Brandon to the train station," said the sign, which was produced by Dixie Republic, a store in Traveler's Rest, South Carolina, that bills itself as the region's biggest purveyor of Confederate goods.
"Brandon" became right-wing code for insulting President Biden when during a NASCAR race last year in Talladega, Alabama, the crowd chanted "F*** Joe Biden," and a sports reporter suggested they were saying "Let's go, Brandon" to cheer the race's winner. Conservatives immediately adopted it as a catchphrase: Rep. Bill Posey of Florida ended a House floor speech with it, Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina wore a face mask emblazoned with it at the Capitol, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas invoked the phrase during a speech at a conservative conference.
Meanwhile, to "take someone to the train station" is a catchphrase from the Paramount Network's neo-Western TV series "Yellowstone" starring Kevin Costner. It refers to a roadside cliff in Wyoming that characters use to discard the bodies of the enemies they kill.
NC Policy Watch, Kira Lerner, 11/3/2022
NC is on the list of states where worries are high
PHOENIX — The two outdoor ballot drop boxes in Maricopa County are both unassuming—secure metal boxes, about the size of blue mailboxes, located just outside county buildings.
But in recent weeks, they’ve at times been monitored by volunteers with far-right organizations, prompted by former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread fraud and misinformation about drop boxes, according to lawsuits challenging their conduct.
In Maricopa County, they’ve allegedly approached and harassed voters, taken photos of their license plates, and stood nearby armed and wearing bulletproof vests. The Arizona secretary of state’s office detailed the complaints and has referred at least six incidents to the U.S. Department of Justice and Arizona attorney general.
Reuters, Glam Slattery, 1/4/2022
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -North Carolina officials have registered 14 instances of potential intimidation or interference with voters and election workers in the run-up to Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections, according to records provided to Reuters on Friday.
The alleged incidents come as grassroots poll observers, many recruited by prominent Republican Party figures and activists, fan out in the lead-up to Tuesday's vote, a trend that has worried experts and officials. Many of the activists have embraced false conspiracy theories, spread by former President Donald Trump, which hold that the 2020 election was marred by fraud and that the upcoming congressional elections are similarly vulnerable.
Incident reports released to Reuters on Friday show that the North Carolina State Board of Elections is tracking eight instances of potential voter intimidation, one of potential voter interference and five of potential interference with election workers during early voting. The alleged incidents are spread across nine counties and include major metropolitan areas such as Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located, as well as more rural areas.
WLOS, Samiar Nefzi, 11/5/2022
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Early voting for the midterm election wrapped up on Saturday, Nov. 5 across North Carolina. The North Carolina State Board of Elections estimated 1,835,811 participated in one-stop early voting by the end of Friday, Nov. 4.
Buncombe County opened 12 polling locations for early voters. As of Friday, Nov. 4, the N.C. State Board of Elections reported 64,169 people participated; that number is expected to have increased notably after polling locations closed Nov. 5.
It was a mad dash to the early voting polls for many Buncombe County residents Saturday. McDay said she recently moved from Buncombe County to the eastern part of the state but decided to drive hours to vote in Buncombe County.
“If you want to complain about the things that need to change and you don’t vote, that’s not a good thing,” said McDay. “Be active.”
Election officials told News-13; an estimated 800 people voted early at the South Buncombe Library location on Saturday.
“I personally think Election Day should be a national holiday,” said Brooke Dorsch, of Buncombe County. ” You need to have it fit people’s schedule. People have kids; I have two kids, and you want to be able to find time.”
NC Policy Watch, Kirk Ross, 11/5/2022
The final push is on and get out the vote efforts shift to Tuesday in an election in which the key for Democrats and Republicans has been to rev up enthusiasm among their most reliable voters.
As early voting wraps up, the vote totals are higher than at this time in the last midterm election, but that’s mainly because the state has more registered voters. Turnout as a percentage is down slightly and, as yet, there are no signs of a red or blue wave.
ABC-11, Samantha Kummerer, 11/4/2022
More than 1.7 million North Carolinians have already cast their vote ahead of Tuesday's Midterm Election.
"There's so much local change to track and it's good to not just be focused on the big picture, but also focus on what's going on in your own community," said Travis Cagney, a Durham voter who voted early.
Early voting numbers from the North Carolina State Board of Election reveal 23.5% of registered voters in the state have taken advantage of early voting options. This is higher than the 21.8% of voters who voted early in the 2018 Midterm Election. This is welcomed news for Kate Fellman's organization, You Can Vote, which aims to increase voter registration and turnout.
"Over the past couple of years, you know, it's been really hard and but the good thing is that people are understanding how their elected officials impact their lives," said Fellman, the founder of You Can Vote.
Data also shows voter turnout so far is higher for Democrats than Republicans (26.8% v. 24.7%), which is usually a trend in every election. Black voters are turning out at the same rates as four years ago with around 21% already casting ballots.
WRAL, 11/6/2022
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Democrats are positioned to boost their party’s representation in the U.S. House, but the gains under a newly enacted voting map could be short-lived.
A pair of races in and outside the Triangle are among the nation’s most competitive and divisive, and they’ll play a role in determining whether Democrats maintain their slim majority in the House.
Democrats currently control five of the state’s 13 seats. After data from the U.S. Census Bureau gave North Carolina an additional seat, the Republican-controlled legislature last year passed a redistricting plan that could have given the GOP up to 11 of the 14 seats.
The proposed map was struck down by the state’s Supreme Court, which held that the map was drawn for pure partisan gain in a way that violated the state constitution. Lawmakers were ordered to go back to the drawing board and get a new map approved by a lower court. After the redraw was rejected, North Carolina judges appointed independent redistricting experts to draft congressional lines. The map ultimately enacted is to be used only for this year’s election.
CATS wants to make access to polling locations easier.
WBTV, Matthew Chandler, 11/4/2022
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The Charlotte Area Transit System wants to make access to polling locations easier for the community on Election Day.
CATS announced that all bus routes, LYNX Blue Line, CityLYNK, and paratransit services will be free of a fare on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
Find your polling location here.
BlueNC, scharrison, 11/5/2022
Her opponent Richard Dietz doesn't believe in gun control:
It is not often that one has the opportunity to hear a talk by someone who has argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. Through the email newsletter of a local gun store and range, Pro Shots, I was fortunate to learn of such an opportunity here in my home town on May 1st. Richard Dietz, a local attorney, spoke at the monthly meeting of the Forsyth County Republican Party about his experience arguing on behalf of the petitioner in Abramski v. United States (No. 12-1493) in January 2014.
Bolding mine, because yes, that is Ted Budd's gun store/range. This blog was written two years before Budd was groomed by Club For Growth and squeezed through the 2016 Republican Primary for Congress with 20% of the vote. Dietz was appointed to the (NC) Court of Appeals later that year (2014) by Pat McCrory, and he's been riding that seat ever since. [This is a great piece on Richard Dietz and Ted Budd.]
Thanks for reading and contributing.
Tomorrow night could feel like Christmas Eve or the last dance on the Titanic.
Good day and good luck.