(Note: these learning modules encompass the
actual class lectures, and are designed for those students who have to miss
class through no fault of their own, and also as a refresher for all students.
Bold print in the notes are what the professor writes on the board.)
LEARNING MODULE: WEEK 12, North Carolina- Democratic
Lessons?
North Carolina is another interesting state, as it is much
more politically competitive today, having a Democratic governor and U.S.
Senate elections that are nearly always fairly close. In the modern South where
Republicans have become so politically dominant, Democrats can learn from at
least two public officials who dominated state politics for decades. They can
learn from an ideologically divisive conservative Republican Senator Jesse
Helms who also stressed his constituency service work, and from an
ideologically inclusive moderate Governor James Hunt. These two figures so
dominated the politics of North Carolina that one scholar from the state really
concentrated on them. They both provide valuable lessons, so this material is
also likely to be on the final exam.
Jesse
Helms gained name recognition as an outspoken and consistently conservative
radio and television commentator. Throughout his career he and his supporters
were accused of playing the race card to stay in office, and he was never
popular enough to win with over 55% of the vote. So how did this guy ever get
elected in the first place? Well, in 1972 a more liberal Democratic
congressman of Greek ancestry knocked off the aging moderate conservative
Democratic incumbent Senator. Republican Helms proceeded to trumpet his
conservative positions on low taxes, fewer government regulations on business,
support for defense spending, and opposition to forced school busing and to
communism. He also blasted his more liberal opponent for being a big
spender who was soft on drugs and favored amnesty for Vietnam
draft evaders. In a year when Nixon was winning re-election with 71% of
the state’s vote, Helms won a 54% victory. Oh, yeah, he also was accused of
playing the race card with a campaign slogan of He’s One of Us, subtly reminding
voters of his opponent’s Greek heritage.
Helms won
re-election in 1978 after a Democratic liberal knocked off the
more moderate son of a former Democratic governor. Helms won Christian
evangelicals who liked his opposition to abortion, blue-collar voters liked
his pro-gun stance, and other voters liked his small-town values of fiscal
responsibility and support for the state’s textile and tobacco
industries. He reportedly had a great constituency service operation
that helped thousands of residents.
Helms squeaked
by in 1984 against popular governor Jim Hunt. In a year when Reagan
was winning re-election with a 62% margin in the state, Helms painted his
Democratic opponent as a tax-and-spend Mondale liberal who favored gay
rights, abortion, unions, and feminist issues. Hunt as governor had supported
state funding of abortions for low-income women. On racial issues, Helms had voted
against a federal Martin Luther King holiday, while Governor Hunt had met with liberal
civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. Helms did have a personal touch when meeting
with constituents, as he appeared folksy, a gentleman, and had a touch
of humor. Campaigning, he stressed his Senate seniority and support for the
state’s agriculture industry.
Helms won the
1990 and 1996 elections pretty narrowly, as he faced another strong
opponent, Harvey Gantt. Gantt was an MIT trained architect, the first African
American Clemson graduate, and two-term mayor of majority white Charlotte.
Gantt did have some liberal positions on controversial issues, being
pro-choice and anti-death penalty. Helms blasted his backing by gay and
lesbian groups, and played the race card by accusing the Democrat of
benefitting from his minority status to get a television station license. Helms
ran an inflammatory ad that showed a white losing a job to an African American
merely because of a racial quota. After losing this
ideologically-oriented campaign, Gantt in 1996 stressed his traditional values by
backing classroom discipline, welfare reform, and toughness on violent
criminals, but Helms still couldn’t resist blasting him for supporting some gay
rights issues. The Helms campaign largely focused on constituency service
issues, as he ran ads specific to each of the state’s media markets that recounted
how he had brought federal help and money into each major city. He also
reminded voters of his seniority, being chair of the important Foreign
Relations Committee. Unfortunately, his supporters played the race card, as
the Christian Coalition distributed a voter guide that darkened Gantt’s face
and accused him of supporting gay rights.
While the
Jesse Helms story shows how Republicans can win by finding evidence of
liberalism on the part of their Democratic opponents, the James Hunt
story shows how Democrats can assemble an ideologically diverse coalition by
taking ideologically different positions on popular issues. Hunt won four terms
as North Carolina governor with landslide wins in the 60% in the 1980s and
respectable wins in the 50% range in the 1990s. Hunt lived traditional
values, as he had worked long hours on the family farm, and
he didn’t use alcohol or tobacco. His father had worked for the U.S.
Agriculture Department in the 1930s under FDR, so he viewed Democrats as
the party of poor farmers and workers.
Hunt won
landslides in his first two gubernatorial elections in 1976 and 1980. A
racial liberal, his speeches urged racial harmony and he appointed
African Americans to important state positions including judgeships. He
also backed the Equal Rights Amendment for women. But he also was tough
on crime, and refused to pardon the Wilmington Ten, civil rights
activists convicted of a 1971 firebombing. Everyone applauded his economic
development programs, which resulted in more highway construction
and the recruitment of high wage jobs. He also improved public
education by reducing class sizes and increasing high school graduation
standards.
Hunt had
closer elections in 1992 and 1996, as Republicans in 1992 offered a
candidate with a stronger resume (their first statewide officer, a lieutenant
governor), though the GOP nominee in 1996 was viewed as too conservative by
attacking Planned Parenthood. In his 3rd and 4th terms as
governor, Hunt again was very pro-education, enacting increased education
funding, a pre-school Smart Start program, and an Excellent
Schools Act that raised teacher pay significantly and provided even
higher salaries for having a master’s degree. Conservatives liked his
placing failing schools under state control with the principals fired.
Legislative Republicans who had gained control of the state house in 1994
played into his hands by opposing teacher pay and school construction funding
bills, which just showed Hunt and Democrats as the more pro-education party.
Hunt continued to stress economic development, expanding use of tax credits
to lure new businesses to all areas of the state. After the 1994 GOP
national landslide, Hunt and his Democratic allies (like Clinton) moved to the
right and enacted welfare reform, a large tax cut, and punitive anti-crime
measures.
Some liberals nationally today
criticize Jim Hunt as being too conservative, but his ideological pragmatism
and diversity made him the longest serving governor in North Carolina’s
history- four terms in office. Also, his Democratic Party has been able to
retain the governorship since he left office at the turn of the century with
only one exception, a Republican governor who in 2016 was beaten after the GOP
governor backed a “bathroom bill” that prevented local governments from
permitting their residents to use public restrooms reflecting their gender
identity. Democrat Roy Cooper was the four-term attorney general at the
time, and he called the bill a national disgrace and refused to defend it
court. As businesses boycotted the state and polls showed 65% of residents
opposing the bill, Democrat Cooper unseated the Republican governor in a close
election, and was then reelected in 2020. The losing GOP gubernatorial nominee in 2020, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest, campaigned on a quicker reopening of businesses and schools, but polls showed public approval of how the Democratic governor was handling COVID-19, and for requiring masks in public. Cooper also campaigned on state issues such as raising teacher pay and expanding Medicaid, and explained that his veto of a measure requiring that the undocumented be turned over to federal agents was because he believed that it would just cost the state money in defending an unconstitutional measure.
In recent Senate elections, except for
Helms the state’s two senate seats have switched back and forth between the two
parties a lot, suggesting that North Carolina is a very competitive state. Indeed,
among exit poll voters in recent years, Democrats have actually slightly
outnumbered Republicans (though the GOP had a 6% edge starting in 2020). So, in such a competitive state, it’s important to
come up with good candidates- people who are personally appealing. Republicans
did that with Elizabeth Dole in 2002, a Duke University graduate who had
a folksy tone when campaigning, and was sensitive to the special economic needs
of the state. Libby also was the wife of presidential candidate Bob Dole, and
had served as both Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Labor in the
federal government. Libby herself was knocked out in 2008 by Democrat Kay
Hagan, a working mom who carpooled her kids to soccer practice. A 10-year
state senate veteran, Hagan was regarded as one of the state’s most effective
legislators, prompting former governor Jim Hunt to contrast her with Dole’s
do-nothing accomplishments in Washington. A hilarious national Democratic ad
took a swipe at Dole’s age of 72 by having two elderly men in rocking chairs
talking about her 92 or 93 ratings in legislative ineffectiveness and in
support for President Bush. Dole tried to paint Hagan as a liberal for
accepting “Godless” campaign money from a secular group, but the attack didn’t
stick, since Hagan was a Presbyterian elder and a Sunday school teacher. The Senate seat switched back to the Republicans
in 2014 as businessman and state house speaker Thom Tillis beat Hagan by
blasting her support for President Obama. Tillis’ cliff-hanger victory was the
closest senate race in the state in 34 years. Tillis won reelection in 2020 as a big Trump supporter (he attended a White House event for Supreme Court justice Amy Coney Barrett), defeating retired military veteran Cal Cunningham who had limited his campaign appearances after apologizing for marital infidelity. The other senate seat had
changed partisan hands four times with one-term officeholders until finally
settling on Republican Richard Burr, who became a three-term senator.
Burr was initially elected in 2004 with strong personal attributes. He was a
college football-playing son of a Presbyterian minister, who drove himself
around, and showed a common touch by working blue-collar jobs during the
campaign. In the House and Senate, he fought for the state’s tobacco
farmers and for its medical and drug industries. Burr won re-election in 2010
with a massive campaign war chest and a blitz of positive, feel-good ads (like
Trent Lott), as the national Democratic Party desperately diverted its campaign
money into other states where it had vulnerable incumbents (sound familiar?).
Burr won re-election in 2016 with 53% of the two-party vote because the
Democratic lady (though having a good resume of ten years of state legislative
experience) had little name visibility, was backed by various liberal political
groups, and was blasted by Burr for directing the state’s liberal ACLU chapter. Republicans retained the seat in 2022 with Trump-endorsed Congressman Ted Budd (who beat former governor McCrory in the primary, who had been endorsed by Senator Burr), who beat Democrat Cheri Beasley, an African American woman and former Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court.