(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 3^rd and 4^th 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.