Over the last 3 years, we've seen a parade of horribles from the Trump administration; but here in Carolina, it's been going on even longer. Ever since NC Republicans used an unconstitutional gerrymander to entrench themselves into a supermajority of the General Assembly in 2011, it's been one thing after another: bans on same-sex marriage; HB2, the infamous "bathroom bill"; round after round of racist voter suppression attempts; even outright election fraud, dirty tricks and corruption. There is simply no depth to which the NC GOP will not sink to maintain its illegitimate grip on power.
So here's the good news: this year, in 2020, Democrats have their best shot in a decade to break the GOP majority and return North Carolina to sanity.
What's changed? In 2018, with new district maps drawn under a federal court order, Democrats won legislative victories across the state and broke the GOP's rigged supermajority in the General Assembly. In 2020, we again have new, court-ordered maps (still tilted towards the Republicans, but a little better!), a strong crop of Democratic challengers, and a big Presidential-year cycle which is going to bring a surge of turnout. We need to flip 6 House seats and 5 Senate seats to take a majority in either chamber.
The Long Leaf Pine Slate is a group of Democratic candidates challenging GOP-held seats in the NC House and Senate. Our path to taking a majority in one or both chambers runs through these winnable, competitive districts. If we can win these races, we can put the adults back in charge this November.
Each candidate featured supports independent redistricting reform, so that politicians (Republican OR Democratic) are removed from the process of drawing election maps to the extent possible. Currently, there are 5 women, 4 men and 2 people of color featured. More candidates may be added later on when their campaign committees are more established.
The Slate launches publicly today and will remain open throughout 2020. I’d appreciate any contributions or shares you can spare. Thank you!