From what I hear, we had an election last week.

A big ‘un. A humdinger, game changer, end of the world, etc., etc.

Yeah, from a Democrat’s perspective, it was bad. Kamala Harris lost decisively to Donald Trump, a man barren of morals who encouraged a deadly insurrection on our capital, flouted the law repeatedly, and made bullying the hallmark of his campaign.

We have learned many lessons from this election, and from Mr. Trump, but I’m not going to dwell on those today. All I’ll say is that the American people will tolerate a level of dishonesty, crass behavior and immorality previously thought disqualifying for any presidential candidate.

With Republicans heading toward control of all three branches of government, we will see a transformation of our country over the next two years that could devastate the environment, public health and yes, even consumer prices.

Shall we forever more remember that it is, indeed, the economy, stupid. And well, immigration.

But let’s move on. It’s not all doom and gloom for Democrats, at least on the state and local levels, partly because North Carolina has a delightful habit of going for yin and yang when it comes to elections. This time we went solidly for Trump as president but overwhelmingly for Democrat Josh Stein as governor. 

And on the Council of State, Democrats won a bunch of offices: lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction. Republicans won these: state auditor, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner, labor commissioner and treasurer.

“(Democrats) won half, so they gained a seat on the Council of State,” Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper said last week. (I’m required by law to shoot the bull with Cooper after every major election.) “They kept the First Congressional District, which was the only competitive district in the state. They clawed back the super majority.”

“It was not a bad night for Democrats in North Carolina,” Cooper said.

Hey, we’re not blue, but we’re kind of purplish. OK, maybe mauve. Ish.

Hey, we still have two very conservative U.S. senators. But the Dems’ success on the state level remains notable.

“The song remains the same, as Led Zeppelin said,” Cooper said, referring to our dual personality and purple streak. “It’s the same story. What’s interesting or different is that some other states joined us.”

In 2020, only five Democrats won election when they were on the same statewide ballot as Trump, and four of those were in the state of North Carolina, Cooper said.

“This time, there were some Democrats who still were elected in Trump states, and it’s because he won all the battlegrounds,” Cooper said.

But let’s get back to the super-majority issue, and the governor’s veto, probably the election’s most important development.

For the past several years, Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes have been mostly meaningless, as the Republicans could override them at will, thanks to a super majority provided by Mecklenburg Rep. Tricia Cotham, who switched from Democrat to Republican in 2023.

Having a Democratic governor with real veto power is huge for progressives and the future of state legislation, Cooper said.

“I think the Stein victory is, of course, important, and we saw it coming,” Cooper said. “But it means so much more for the Democrats because it comes in conjunction with breaking the super majority.”

The veto is the “one legislative tool that the governor has in his toolbox, and if the Republicans had maintained the super majority, they could have overridden his veto without a single Democrat on their side,” Cooper said.

“So in practice, that means they could pass any legislation they wanted without a single Democrat agreeing,” Cooper continued. “It would have been a one-party state in terms of the legislation coming out of Raleigh.”

So, that’s pretty huge.

Another takeaway from this election is that Buncombe County is more Democratic than ever, even in the one territory Republicans made an effort to claim through favorable redistricting, House District 115, where Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, was the incumbent. She ran against Republican Ruth Smith, pulling out a victory with 51.4 percent of the vote.

As Cooper said, “It was close, but it wasn’t,” as Prather’s victory is safely out of recount territory.

“In that district, based on the 2020 vote, it favored the Republican Party by a few percent, so really, she outperformed her district by probably five percentage points,” Cooper said. “I think the reality is that probably means the district’s changed since 2020 — more people moving in. It’s liberalizing.”

Cooper is skeptical that another Republican will make it to the North Carolina House in Buncombe County in the foreseeable future. 

On the flip side, I don’t see a Democrat going to Congress from the 11th District in my lifetime. (And yes, let’s hope that’s longer than, say, five or 10 years.) Democrat Caleb Rudow challenged incumbent Chuck Edwards, who delivered a beatdown, winning just less than 57 percent of the vote — and I thought Rudow ran a good campaign and was a very likable candidate.

Football hero Heath Shuler, a former NFL quarterback and Swain County native, was the last Democrat to hold that office, and he was essentially a Republican in many regards. Unless Shuler wants to run again, look for Edwards to stay in as long as he wants.

Speaking of beatdowns, Amanda Edwards put one on former Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan, who ran as an unaffiliated candidate in their race for the chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, taking 60.7 percent of the vote to Duncan’s 39.3. Duncan, a former Democrat, left the party after he said it essentially left him by drifting too far left.

Edwards hammered Duncan on his acceptance of a $125,000 retirement payout or retention bonus (depending on your point of view). But I don’t think that’s what did in Duncan, who was a highly popular sheriff.

I think what got him is he ran as an unaffiliated candidate in a very Democratic County and didn’t have any party backing.

Cooper has written a lot about unaffiliated candidates and how they have a steep uphill battle in North Carolina, first to even get on the ballot and then to actually win.

“It just shows unaffiliated candidates can’t win,” Cooper said. “Four years, maybe two years from now, we’ll have another person read ‘Don Quixote’ and start tilting at windmills.”

“He was the best possible unaffiliated candidate and he didn’t come close,” Cooper said.

Which brings me to the end of today’s column. 

Let’s start talking about that 2028 race! I can’t wait for the text messages to start!

[Correction: An earlier version of this column misidentified the House district in which Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, was the incumbent and the victor. It is District 115. The column also misstated Chuck Edwards’s percentage of the vote total in his race against Caleb Rudow. He won just less than 57 percent.]

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community.  To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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