Election season is finally over and done with

Oh, what a relief it is. The political advertisements that peppered local television stations – and about drove us crazy – vanished on Election Day, Nov. 5.

 

In North Carolina, as a “battleground state,” we no doubt got more than our “fair share” of the negative commercials.

Two refreshing exceptions were the commercials that aired promoting candidates for North Carolina’s Council of State.

One commercial advocated for Democrat Elaine Marshall (shown below), 78, who was seeking to retain her seat as Secretary of State.

 

The commercial depicted Marshall as “helping out” at several small businesses. In back-to-back scenes, she was checking the oil of a car in a repair shop and serving a slice of pie in a diner. Presumably, she washed her hands in between.

Marshall held off Republican challenger Chad Brown, 52, winning by about 1.8 percentage points. She has been North Carolina’s Secretary of State since 1997.

Another advertisement of note featured Dave Boliek (shown below), 56, the Republican candidate for State Auditor. Featuring his wife and four children, the commercial showed how he runs a tight ship, accounting for every penny of family finances. 

His wife, Haden, begged viewers to “send him to Raleigh.”

They did, giving him a victory margin of nearly 2 percentage points over Democrat Jessica Holmes, 41, who was appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of State Auditor by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2023.

In the race for U.S. president, Republican Donald Trump, 78, rode a red wave of early voter turnout across North Carolina to outdistance the Democrats’ Kamala Harris, 60, by about 2.5 percentage points.

 

In the North Carolina governor’s contest, voters witnessed a total and complete implosion by Republican Mark Robinson, 56, who is the sitting lieutenant governor. Robinson lost by nearly 15 percentage points to Democrat Josh Stein (shown below), 58, who is the state’s attorney general.

 

Democrat Rachel Hunt (shown below), 59, a state senator from Mecklenburg County, won the race for North Carolina lieutenant governor by about 1.5 percentage points over Republican Hal Weatherman, 54. She is the daughter of former North Carolina Gov. Jim and Carolyn Hunt.

 

An objective analysis of North Carolina’s voting results has been compiled by Chandler Spaulding, director of strategic communications and government relations, at the Smith Anderson law firm of Raleigh.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, the political makeup of North Carolina’s 14-member congressional delegation “has changed based upon new districts that were redrawn in 2023,” Spaulding wrote. “North Carolina is shifting from a 7-7 split between Democrats and Republicans to a Republican majority of 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats.”

The 1st Congressional District race was the only competitive one in November. Incumbent Democrat Don Davis, 53, narrowly escaped with a win of about 1.5 percentage points over Republican challenger Laurie Buckholt, 62.

 

This “expansive district in the eastern part of the state covers 22 counties,” Spaulding said. 

Buckholt, who lives in Edenton in Chowan County won 10 counties, while Davis, a native of Snow Hill in Greene County, carried 12.

In the North Carolina General Assembly, the suspense was whether Republicans could maintain supermajorities in both chambers (a three-fifths advantage), Spaulding noted.

“Democrats only needed to gain one seat in the House and one in the Senate to break the supermajorities. Based on preliminary election results, Senate Republicans expanded their supermajority to 31 Republicans in the upper chamber,” Spaulding said.

“In contrast, House Republicans lost their supermajority by one vote, but maintain a solid majority in the lower chamber.”

A handful of legislative races remain tight and recounts could come into play, she said.

For the North Carolina Supreme Court, only one associate justice seat was up for election this year – between Democrat Allison Riggs, who was appointed by Gov. Cooper in 2023, and Republican Jefferson Griffin, who has been serving on the state Court of Appeals.

 

“As a result of the Nov. 5 election, Griffin narrowly won this seat, and the N.C. Supreme Court will now have a 6-1 Republican majority,” Spaulding wrote. “However, this race could qualify for a recount.”

Three of the 15 seats on the state Court of Appeals were up for election. Republicans won all three contests, so the Court of Appeals will now be comprised of 12 Republicans and three Democrats.