VOLUME 7 ISSUE 38 |
WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2022
CHUCK BURTON | AP PHOTO
Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) greets supporters with his wife, Amy Kate Budd, left, after winning his U.S. Senate race against Cheri Beasley at his election night watch party in Winston-Salem, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
Work the plan: Methodical campaign drives Budd to US Senate
2022 North Carolina statewide election results
By Matt Mercer North State Journal
U.S. SENATE Ted Budd (R) 50.71% Cheri Beasley (D) 47.08%
GOP take supermajority in NC Senate; short by one seat in House
N.C. SUPREME COURT SEAT 3 Richard Dietz (R) 52.59% Lucy Inman (D) 47.41%
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
N.C. SUPREME COURT SEAT 5 Trey Allen (R) 52.39% Sam Ervin IV (D) 47.61% N.C. COURT OF APPEALS SEAT 8 Julee Tate Flood (R) 52.62% Carolyn Jennings Thompson (D) 47.38% N.C. COURT OF APPEALS SEAT 9 Donna Stroud (R) 54.60% Brad Salmon (D) 45.40% N.C. COURT OF APPEALS SEAT 10 John Tyson (R) 52.95% Gale Adams (D) 47.05% N.C. COURT OF APPEALS SEAT 11 Michael Stading (R) 53.06% Darren Jackson (D) 46.94%
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RALEIGH — Republicans in the General Assembly managed to gain a supermajority in the Senate but came up one seat short in the House. In the Senate, Republicans picked up two seats and now control 30 of the 50 senate seats. “Tonight the voters of North Carolina spoke loud and clear. They returned a Republican supermajority to the state Senate,” Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) said in a statement on Nov. 8. “I want to thank the voters for their trust and support over the past seven elections.” Berger went on to say the election “has been a barometer for where voters want their state and country to go” and that the Republican platform of low taxes, job creation, expanded parental choice, and quality education, is one that reflects the needs of all North Carolinians. He also congratulated House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) for successes in the House and said he is “hopeful that Senate Democrats will respect the verdict of North Carolina’s voters evident in tonight’s results.” On the House side, Republicans gained two seats, bringing their total to 71 seats out of 120. The pickups came in just shy of the needed 72 (60%) for a supermajority. “We have a handful of Democrats who work with us,” Moore said in a joint press conference the day after the election. “We have some new members coming in, and I feel completely confident that should we need to override vetoes, we’ll be able to do our part in the House as well.” Republican State Leadership Committee President Dee Duncan sent congratulations to both chambers and said the election results “are a strong rebuke of the national liberal agenda and a critical victory for North Carolinians” and that “For the last six years, North Carolina thrived despite Gov. Cooper, not because of him.” Gov. Roy Cooper’s message on election night claimed the Republicans being one seat shy was due
to citizens voting for “balance and progress.” “We stopped a GOP supermajority tonight when North Carolinians voted for balance and progress. I’ll continue to work with this legislature to support a growing economy, more clean energy, better health care and strong public schools,” tweeted Cooper. North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Bobbie Richardson also released a statement on “protecting Gov. Cooper’s veto power” that read in part, “voters have rejected the attempts of North Carolina Republicans to consolidate power and take our state backwards. North Carolinians see a stronger future for our state when Democrats have a seat at the decision-making table.” The lack of a supermajority in the House means Cooper will likely be able to continue his pattern of liberal veto use. He has vetoed 75 bills in the last six years whereas a combined 35 were issued by the five past governors who had veto power, 68% of all vetoes since the state’s governor has had the power to do so. Cooper vetoed 28 bills in just his first two years in office. During that time Republicans held supermajorities that led to 23 overrides. In 2018, Democrats broke Republican supermajorities in both chambers. Since then, Democrats have upheld the governor’s vetoes on the few occasions when an override vote has been called. Key House races of note include Rep. Erin Paré retaining her seat as the lone Republican in Wake County. She defeated Democrat Christine Kelly by over 8 percentage points. A comparable situation unfolded in Mecklenburg County with John Bradford beating Democrat Christy Clark for the District 98 seat. Other hard-fought wins for Republicans following redistricting included the two Guilford County seats held by Jon Hardister and John Faircloth, as well as the Forsyth County seat of Jeff Zenger. Democrats Brian Farkas (Pitt), Howard Hunter III (Hertford County), James Gailliard (Nash County), Terry Garrison (Vance See SUPERMAJORITY, page A2
RALEIGH — A campaign launch with fireworks and a monster truck named the “Liberal Agenda Crusher” could have given voters the idea that Ted Budd was going to be flashy, loud and boisterous as a candidate for U.S. Senate. But on the campaign trail, voters were able to see Budd talk about family, the economy and securing the southern border. At its core, the Budd campaign was a representation of the candidate himself — disciplined and focused. There was no obvious frontrunner for Republicans entering the 2022 U.S. Senate race. The
first person to enter was former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, who released an announcement video in December 2020. Yet despite the early start, Walker never received traction in the race. One of the most talked about candidates was former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. As a longtime mayor and oneterm governor, McCrory had run for statewide office three times. He ended his radio show on Charlotte’s WBT to enter the race and hired one of the preeminent political consultants in the state, Paul Shumaker, to run his campaign. Still, there was an opening for a candidate who could earn support from both the grassroots and See BUDD, page A2
Republicans sweep top NC judicial races again For second consecutive election cycle, Republicans secured all statewide judicial seats
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — While Republicans fell one seat shy of locking in supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, the party did celebrate a full sweep of the state’s top judicial races. The wins line up with multiple polls before Election Day that had all Republican candidates in the lead. In the month leading up to the election, super PACs spent more than $9 million in ads in support and opposition of the candidates in the Supreme Court races. As of the morning of Nov. 14, voting data shows judicial race candidates received some of the highest vote totals of all races on the Nov. 8 ballot. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Donna Stroud received more than 2 million votes — the highest of any candidate on the Nov. 8 ballot, surpassing both U.S. Senate candidates. The two N.C. Supreme Court wins by Republicans Richard Dietz and Trey Allen mean the court’s makeup will go from a 4-3 Democrat majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. Dietz defeated Democrat Lucy Inman by more than 192,000 votes or roughly 5% of the ballots See JUDICIAL, page A3
cast in that race. Democrats in North Carolina typically bring in higher absentee ballot numbers, which gave Inman an early lead. Inman won Absentee One-Stop (early voting) and Absentee By Mail but neither she nor any other Democrat had overly large early vote