mnhtnbb
mnhtnbb's JournalBlack Turnout in Midterms One of Low Points for Democrats
From an NY Times Subscriber Only Newsletter. Archive link to avoid the paywall
Still, relatively low Black turnout is becoming an unmistakable trend in the post-Obama era, raising important if yet unanswered questions about how Democrats can revitalize the enthusiasm of their strongest group of supporters.
Is it simply a return to the pre-Obama norm? Is it yet another symptom of eroding Democratic strength among working-class voters of all races and ethnicities? Or is it a byproduct of something more specific to Black voters, like the rise of a more progressive, activist and pessimistic Black left that doubts whether the Democratic Party can combat white supremacy?
Georgia and North Carolina are two of the states where voters indicate their race when they register to vote, offering an unusually authoritative look at the racial composition of the electorate. In both states along with Louisiana the Black share of the electorate fell to its lowest levels since 2006.
In all three states, the turnout rate among Black voters was far lower than among white voters. In North Carolina, for example, 43 percent of Black registered voters turned out, compared with 59 percent of white registered voters roughly doubling the difference from 2018 and tripling the racial turnout gap from 2014.
Perhaps more remarkable is that Raphael Warnock, the Democratic senator from Georgia, and Ms. Beasley fared so well, even with Black voters representing such a low share of the electorate. Mr. Warnock and Ms. Beasley appear to have fared better among non-Black voters than any Democrats in recent memory in either state.
The entire article here:
https://archive.ph/wGkKk
As a senior citizen white female resident of North Carolina, I don't understand it. I thought Beasley had an excellent chance to beat her Trump supported opponent. Even without name recognition, or a charismatic personality, she had the resume and the gravitas to make an excellent Senator. I was excited to see her more than 300,000 votes ahead on Election night when the Early voting/Absentee ballot returns were coming in. That put her 150,000 votes AHEAD of where Hillary was compared to Trump in 2016 at the same point in time. I just don't understand why--when given the opportunity to elect the first Black Senator from North Carolina--the Black turnout was worse than white support for her.
The Democratic Party has to get this figured out. I had thought maybe it was an NC state thing, but apparently, this is a nationwide issue.
Good luck!
My husband's father was 96 when he married his girlfriend of many years, who became his fourth wife. They married without telling my husband or his two sisters.
The father had originally set up a trust to split his estate three equal ways between his children. No house involved because the dad had sold it years previously when he and his girlfriend moved to separate apartments in an assisted living facility. The father told my husband that the many gold coins which were stashed in a safety deposit box (my husband was on the signature card) would no longer be left to him, but to the new wife.
Well, when the dad died, the wife not only wore one of the gold coins made into a necklace to the funeral, but also announced to my husband and his sisters that the trust had been eliminated from the new will AND everything divided between the sisters and the wife equally, with my husband given a nominal $10,000. bequest.
What a witch. By destroying the trust, more of the multi million dollar estate went to taxes. Eventually, one sister gifted my husband over several years a portion of what she had received to make up for the change in the will.
My husband had flown to Florida to get legal counsel when the marriage took place regarding competency of his 96 year old father who had resisted marrying this girl friend for years. He found out that basically if you can zip your pants, you're competent in Florida. The wife found out from the other sister --the one who didn't share--and that's when she became determined to have the will and trust changed.
Good luck. Your husband 's father has undoubtedly been worn down over the years by this wife. She will likely get what she wants. Better resign yourself to it.
Wordle 523 ***Spoiler Thread*** 11/24
Wordle 523 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨mince
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜steak
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩least
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩feast
Of course.
Happy Thanksgiving!
WTF? Sen Tillis (R) NC becomes best budds with former rival Cunningham (D)
So, not only did Cunningham sabotage his chances in 2020 to beat Tillis because he couldn't keep his zipper zipped during the 2020 election that pitted the two North Carolina candidates against each other in a highly competitive U.S. Senate race, but used the opportunity to become friends with his rival!
Tillis told the audience Thursday night that the public had no idea during the campaign that they had become friends behind the scenes.
https://archive.ph/CBBeQ
Where is the vetting process for candidates for the Democratic party in NC?
Where is the party support for a Black woman candidate--who had a really good opportunity to win an open Senate seat--but got no support from the National party? Beasley was a serious candidate--just ask Rachel Maddow who kept asking Kornacki to check the numbers on Election night, and who ended the MSNBC special night before Election day with an on air interview with Beasley--and if the Democratic voters in NC had been fired up to turn out, she would have won.
Beasley was running ahead of Budd by more than 300,000 votes when the results first started coming in Election night. Absentee and early voting was fabulous for the Dems in NC; numbers were running ahead with 9% more women early voting than men and greater turnout than 2018. Then it all fell apart on Election day. Total voter turnout across the state was barely above 50%. There were enough Democrats who didn't vote in Orange and Durham counties (Democratic strongholds) that at least 100,000 votes were left on the table. Add that to less than stellar turnout in the most populous--and Democratic leaning--counties of Mecklenburg and Wake, and Beasley could have won.
What is going on here?
Wordle 510 ***Spoiler Thread*** Nov 11
Wordle 510 4/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜rainy
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜beaut
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩pedal
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩medal
Low turnout did not help.
Yes, Dems came out ahead in early voting. Beasley started the night up more than 300,000 votes over Budd. But the final turnout was barely over 50% of eligible voters. Heavy or leaning Democratic counties left more votes on the table than her margin of loss. That's why the race wasn't called until the votes were all counted from the heavily Democratic counties. It was theoretically a winnable race.
https://er.ncsbe.gov/result_status.html?election_dt=11/08/2022
Buncombe, Durham, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Orange, and Wake counties all had low voter turnout. Mecklenburg, where Charlotte is, even came up with less than 50% turnout.
We all know what happens when there is low turnout.
The bright spot is that, finally, after more than a decade of Republican gerrymandering and court cases (thanks to low turnout in 2010), we have equal House representation with 7 Dems and 7 Republicans.
Several blood moon photos (edited)
All handheld and it's windy here in NC. But clear and beautiful to watch.
Wordle 507 "Spoiler Thread" Nov 8th
Wordle 507 4/6
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜voter
🟩🟨⬜⬜🟨slice
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩shell
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩spell
I couldn't decide whether to start with voter or lunar this morning. I'm watching the eclipse here.
Edited to add the blood moon setting into the trees behind my house.
Women and Dems lead early voting in NC
From the NC State Board of Elections data for early voting turnout to Nov 6th
1,124,012 FEMALE votes 52.22% of Total
928,393 MALE votes 43.13% of Total
99,964 Undesignated votes 4.64%of Total
Ballots by Party
Democrats 821,340
Republicans 673,762
Unaffiliated. 651,363
https://www.ncsbe.gov/results-data/voter-turnout/2022-general-election-turnout
I will hazard a guess that the gender Undesignated votes will not break Republican. These early voters exceeded the turnout for the 2018 midterms.
Fall flower study
I was out watering this morning--we are having several days of unusually hot weather in the 80's here--and I literally turned off the hose to go in and get my camera to take a few shots before the wind came up. These are Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia), which came up from seed scattered last spring.
All the above shots were taken with my Canon camera among this group of flowers. Took the group shot below with my phone.
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: NYC
Home country: USA
Current location: Durham, NC
Member since: Sat May 7, 2005, 11:13 PM
Number of posts: 31,780