Politics in Charlotte, North Carolina
Demographics for Charlotte vary from other cities in North Carolina. Charlotte is divided into four counties, which include Union, Cabarrus, Gaston, and Mecklenburg (Weigel & Tierney, 2020). The city is the most populated in the State of North Carolina. The number of nonwhite residents in Charlotte is higher than the state average, and it has more college-educated residents than other cities and state average. The politics of Charlotte city have been defined for many years. North Carolina city has been a democratic controlled, and stronghold area. However, the political situation was changed when the democratic party controlled the city after Republicans controlled it for 22 years (Weigel & Tierney, 2020). Barack Obama was the first democratic presidential candidate to win in Mecklenburg county, Charlotte city. Obama managed to expand the margin in 2008 by gathering 100,110 votes, and Hillary Clinton grew it further in 2016 by gaining 139,044. The shift of power led to republicans losing Charlotte as one of their stronghold cities in North Carolina.
It is important to note that the political control of Democrats on Charlotte is only in Mecklenburg county since republicans still have higher support in Union, Cabarrus, and Gaston (Weigel & Tierney, 2020). The city’s political nature has been affecting its development since the democratic control, and political strength in Charlotte are being erased by the Republican presence in three other countries. Republicans still control its old congressional districts. In 2019, the Exurban Union County vote, republicans maintained its 9 points while the democratic party gained 21 (Weigel & Tierney, 2020). It was the first time in years that republicans got the smallest margin in the county. Charlotte politics continues to define presidential elections. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won by 395,636 votes, with Donald Trump getting 337,913. The voting results show the smaller margin that the democratic party leads the republican party in the city.
The political environment and voting culture in Charlotte are described as being liberal oriented. Charlotte’s most liberal county in Mecklenburg since, in the 2016 presidential elections, 62.3% of the voters supported democratic candidates (Bestplaces.net, 2019). Republicans only gained 32.9% of the votes. Mecklenburg has been consistent in the last four presidential elections since Democrats have won in the four elections. Research on other areas in Charlotte, such as Concord and Gastonia, shows a “leaning liberal” status (Bestplaces.net, 2019). In the last elections, the North Caroline liberal index was higher than that of conservative. The politics of the city have been shaped by the political campaigns which are sponsored by the residents. From 2015 to 2018, more than $7.8 million were collected from 36,475 different contributions to support democratic and liberal-oriented campaigns in Charlotte (Bestplaces.net, 2019). However, the contributions for the democratic party were lower than that of republicans for the four years. Republicans collected conservative campaign funds totaling to $9.03 million from 11.347 contributions. The figures show how Republicans are trying to regain their city’s dominance by funding more conservative political campaigns.
Election campaigns in North Carolina and Charlotte City have been met with many controversies. The controversies came after democratic senate candidate Cal Cunningham was accused of buying votes by allowing controversial projects to be started in the county (Lacy, 2019). The controversial projects had been voted against by environmental advocates and county officials. The senate candidate also refused to take donations for his election campaigns. It came at a time when he was accused of receiving from PAC donations one year before the campaigns to approve their real estate projects (Lacy, 2019). His involvement in controversial projects across North Carolina is damaging for the democratic party in the region. His past legislations are connected to many controversies since his actions seem to be geared towards edging out the republican senator who has gained the lowest approval rates across the U.S. (Lacy, 2019). It also shows that democratic actions are directed towards increasing their dominance in Charlotte’s entire region in the upcoming November 2020 presidential elections.
Charlotte, North Carolina, connects North and South Carolina; hence, political ads from different candidates during elections seem to be concentrated around the city (Mccammon, 2020). The city’s metro area is where most of the votes are cast and residents of the region and bombarded with both online and offline political ads. Politicians use the ads to shape voters’ decisions so that they get more support in primary democratic races (Mccammon, 2020). The ads are played over the radio, television channels, and online social networks such as Facebook. Politicians in Charlotte use the ads to tell their supporters what they want to hear. For example, some of the candidates talk about Medicare for all and more support to teachers since they are some of America’s problems (Mccammon, 2020). In Charlotte, the Democratic primary race ads by Mike Bloomberg have dominated the entire region. He spent more than $15 million on political ads, which was ten times more than ads for Bernie Sanders (Mccammon, 2020). It shows that Charlotte has become a political battlefield for the democrats to gain more voters’ support.
Civil rights politics in Charlotte
The city politics have been largely involved in the Civil Rights Movement’s history in the U.S. The movements have contributed to the schools in Charlotte being desegregated, and equality in education has had significant positive changes (Funk, 2019). North Carolina has produced many civil rights activists such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Protests have been happening across the nation as people demand justice for the death of George Floyd on the hands of the police, and residents in Charlotte have been taking to the streets (Solt, 2020). Some politicians in the city have been supporting the protests, and others have been rebuking it, citing the residents’ peace. According to State Rep. Kelly Alexander Jr, today’s politics have changed the civil rights movements version since every violation is being met with violent protests (Solt, 2020). Politicians have been discussing the issue of racism for more than 55 years, and little has changed. However, political forums have allowed people to talk about racism openly, demanding something to be done by the government to protect people’s rights.
Conclusion
Politics in Charlotte, North Carolina have defined the entire state, considering that it is the largest city with the largest population. Charlotte has become a center of attraction for Democratic candidates as they try to dominate the entire state. The city’s campaigns have contributed to the voters shifting their support from the republican side to the democratic party. It has enabled democratic presidential and senate candidates to get more support than their Republican counterparts. The politics in charlotte have also contributed to the civil rights movements and protests that have been happening across the nation as residents and politicians engage in discussions on how to end the issue of racism.
References
Bestplaces.net. (2019). Charlotte, North Carolina politics & voting. Best Places to Live | Compare the cost of living, crime, cities, schools, and more. Sperling’s BestPlaces. https://www.bestplaces.net/voting/city/north_carolina/charlotte
Funk, T. (2019). From sit-ins to landmark lawsuits, NC’s role in the Civil Rights Movement was ‘huge.’ https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article223223740.html
Lacy, A. (2019). Democratic Senate candidate boosted the big-money development project. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2019/10/13/cal-cunningham-north-carolina-southern-durham-development/
Mccammon, S. (2020). The next site for Democrats’ ad war: North Carolina. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2020/02/29/810643829/the-next-site-for-democrats-ad-war-north-carolina
Solt, K. (2020). Charlotte politician talks protests, how things have changed. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2020/06/02/charlotte-politician-talks-protests–how-things-have-changed
Weigel, D., & Tierney, L. (2020). The six political states of North Carolina. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/north-carolina-political-geography/