Charlotte gubernatorial race affected by Obama

In an election characterized by upsets residents of Mecklenburg County chose Democratic governor-elect Bev Perdue over popular eight-term Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

Perdue defeated McCrory in the gubernatorial election by roughly 400 votes on his home turf and by a margin of about 3 percent statewide.

Most attributed Perdue's surprise victory in Mecklenburg County to straight ticket voting" which favored Democrats this election because of Obama's presence at the top of the ticket.

""If you took out straight party voting — which was about 64 percent of the vote — and made all of them ticket splitters or undecided" McCrory would have won both Mecklenburg and North Carolina as a whole" said Lee Teague, chair of the Mecklenburg Republican Party.

According to the N.C. State Board of Elections, 64 percent of Democrats in Mecklenburg County voted straight ticket. About 35 percent of Republicans did the same.

Obama pushed straight party voting" and with Mecklenburg voting more Democratic lately I'm surprised McCrory did as well as he did" Teague said.

Theodore Arrington, a political science professor at UNC-Charlotte, said that the large number of African Americans and new voters participating in the general election also helped Perdue in Mecklenburg, and that explained why she defeated McCrory in his home city.

In a city election" African Americans just don't turn out in big numbers but they certainly did last Tuesday and also there were a lot of new voters that showed up. Almost all African Americans and new voters voted straight ticket" Arrington said.

Arrington added that African Americans and new voters overwhelmingly voted for Obama.

Charlotte resident Tommy George said both new and veteran voters had a tendency to vote straight ticket, including himself.

There were also a lot of first- time voters" but like me they saw the straight party button and boom; we were there George said. It still puzzles me that he lost in his own backyard like that" though.""

Joel Ford" chairman of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party said that Perdue appealed to undecided voters" and that her campaign in Charlotte had the final say in her win over McCrory.

""Once they got an opportunity to know and understand Perdue's skill set" relationships and experience they were more comfortable with her and her approach to Charlotte-Mecklenburg he said.

She was basically focusing on a message of cooperation" that the east and west part of the state needed to work together to solve the crisis.""

 McCrory announced Monday that he would throw his support behind the Perdue administration.

Arrington said the majority of Republican voters generally reside west of the Triangle"" while Democrats mostly reside to the east. The division is largely historical.

""The east has been dominated by Democrats for over 100 years" and a lot of people in the west like the Piedmont area are a bunch ‘Yankees from the south.' They're new people in North Carolina" Arrington said.

Martha Kropf, a UNC-Charlotte political science professor, said that as a Republican, McCrory faced poor odds this election but could fare better in the future.

It was an overwhelming anti-Republican election. It was anti-things the way they have been" and it's unfortunate that anything that he could have gotten credit for in Charlotte was lost in the election she said.

But I expect he will run again" and I expect he will perform better in his next bid in the election.""



Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.