Becoming An Informed Voter
I can absolutely say that this assignment alone had challenged me, and it allowed me to
understand a little more about North Carolina and politics.
North Caorlina over the time has seemed to be a mostly Democratic state, between 1900
and 2020, there were 31 elections that North Carolina took place in when it came to Presidential
elections. Donald Trump was voted for by North Carolina in 2020 and throughout the past well
over 25 years, has primarly been a Republican favored state. Since 1900, 49.1% of North
Carolina’s votes have been Republican, however Democratic votes stood at 58.1%, so it did
remain a close race. Since 2000 the numbers significantly increaded when it came to the
Republicans, it sat at a staggering 83.3% vote over the Democratic at 16.7%.
In the past 25 years North Carolina has been known to be a “swing state”, which is what
is known to be a “purple state”, the title is because Republicans are represented by the color red,
and the Democrats are represented by the color blue, meaning that North Carolina can be
balanced when it comes to Republicans and Democrats. When it comes to the Presidental
campaign and elections, swing states play a crucial role in them. The states that are “purple
states” can “swing” the results of an election. Demographics and different ideaologies can also
change the outcome of the swing during each election cycle. The state of North Carolina has
seen several shifts in the party control on Federal and State levels. However out of the last 10
Governors the state of North Carolina has held, 7 of them have been Democrats including current
Governor, Roy Cooper. Unfortunately, North Carolina has had its fair share of political issues
caused on behalf of the lack of communication and agreeing on certain things between
legislature and the Governor, we have still continued to vote red. The only exception on the red
votes happened to be in 2008, when Barack Obama was voted in, which is the first time North
Carolina has went blue in the past 10 Presidental elections.
North Carolina has unfortunately been an example of gerrymandering, which has
included legal issues and controversies when electoral districe lines are involved. Both racial and
partisan gerrymandering have been accusations that North Carolina has come under fire for. It
was in 2010, after the cencus, that North Carolina had to be redistriced, that’s when it was seen
that the district lines had been changed. All of this happened again in 2019 when a state ended up
ruling that legislative districts in North Carolina were also accused of partisan gerrymandering.
During the 1990’s and 2000’s North Carolina has come across quite a few legal issues pertaiing
to racial gerrymandering as well, during that time claims that North Carolina had drawn the
district lines in a way that interfered with minority voting. In 2010, the legal aspect focused on
claims that the congressional as well as legislative district maps have also undergone racial
gerrymandering. Due to the accusations and legal battles pertaining to the gerrymandering, it was
called upon for independent redistricting commissions. Unfortunately, this issue remainins
ongoing and the state remainins an example for others when the topic of redistricting on fair
representation comes up.
Now, North Carolina has seemed to have a wide variety of Republicans and Democrats
when it comes to the political background of North Carolinas senators over the course of the past
25 years. From 1993 until 2003 Republican Jesse Helms served North Carolina. Jesse Helms had
a total of 25 years under his belt. Next to him was Democrat Jonh Edwards who served his term
between 1999 and 2005, and he was a Democratic nominee for VP in 2004. From 2003 until
2009 North Carolina had Republican Elizabeth Dole. Elizabeth Dole was the US Secretary of
Labor and US Secretary of Transportation. From 2005 until 2023, Richard Burr was a long time
Senator who was also a Republican, Richard Burr was also the chair of the State Intelligence
Committee. Kay Hagan was a Democratic canidate and served 6 year from the yearas 2009 until
2015. Kay Hanagn worked on a good majority of heatlhcare reform issues. Last but not least
Republican Thomas Tillis, who is currently still serving and has been since 2015. Thom Tillis
has assisted in various things, from healthcare to immigration and national security.
When analyzing the political background, it has ended up leaming towards mostly in the
favor of Republicans. Our Congressional district has also had a mix between Republicans and
Democrats, like between 1996 and 2016, Republicans had control of most of the Congressional
seats. When it comes to the North Carolina and Presidential elections, from the years of 1996
until 2008, North Carolina leaned heavily towards Republican, just because it had always voted
for Republicans, then of course in 2008, that long list of Republican Presidential canidates cant
to a stop. Like previously stated, that is when Democratic canidate Barack Obama was voted into
the office and it had broke that long streak. When we approached 2012 and 2016 we went right
back to voting for Republican canidates. Finally in 2020 the Presidential election for Donald
Trump, who we all know is a very diehard Republican.
House of Representatives
In the North Carolina House of Representatives you have Gregory Murphy a Republican
whom graduated from Davidson College and while he attended University of North Carolina he
really played a big role in healthcare reform, he also practiced as a urologist in Greenville North
Carolina and was an affiliate professor and Chief of Urology at ECU School of Medicine.
Gregory Murphy was elected to the House of Representatives and while he did this he chaired
two healthcare related committees. After looking over Gregory Murphys interest group ratings,
the ratings go as followed: in 2021 the ADA votes 0%, from 2021 to 2022 the ACLU which is
also a liberal group, voted 38%, in 2020 the ACU voted 88% and in 2021 the Family Research
Council voted 92% (votesmart.org). The ADA and ACLU are both liberal groups, whereas ACU
and FRC are onservative interest group, meaning as you can see Gregory Murphy strongly
supports conservative views and morals. Greg Murphy assisted in various things throughout his
career that has shaped North Carolina into what it is. The one that caught my attention when it
came to Gregory Murphy, was legislation related to veterans affairs; Bill HR 5377, is to improve
the benefits and healthcare related to veterans. By updating and revising policies, it gives
veterans a better quality of lige. Gregory Murphy as previously stated is incredibly
knowledgeable when it comes to healthcare. He is also always supporting and sponsoring bills
when it is dealing with healthcare legislation and he has supported medican research, health
initaties and was involved with the bipartisan group CAMC or the Congressional Academic
Medicine Caucus and has also assisted with Agricultural legislation which was a farm bill that
assisted in supporting a strong agricultural sector.
North Carolina Senate
In our senate we have Theodore (Tedd) Budd, who started as a Republican Canidate for
the 13th congressional district in 2016. In the general election he faced a Democratic canidate and
came out victorious and in 2018 and 2020 Tedd Budd was up for reelection. Tedd Budd
graduated from App sState and has incredibly conservative views and morals that align with the
Republican party, he also oppposes gun control and views terrorism and mental health issues as
the main complaint for gun control issues. Like Gregory Murphy, Tedd Budd advocates for tax
reform and health care reform.
In 2021 Tedd Budd actually obtainined an endorsement from the man American has
grown to love, Donald J. Trump. Tedd Budd started his careeer by assisted in the phone banks
for Senator Jesse Helms, and obtained his graduate degree in theology from Wake Forest.
Theodore Budd is a non-denominational christian who was born as a North Carolina native in
Davie County on October 21 1971. He has been the Representative for North Carolina House of
Representatives District 13 from 2017 to current 2023, he became a canidate for the United
States Senate in 2022 and is currently on 12 legislative committees. Theordore Budd’s interest
group ratings also let you know how he is very conservative and does not really follow liberal
topics. The ADA from the year 2021 to 2022 was a 0%, ACLU between the years 2021-2022
was 11%, in 2020 the ACU votes 92% and the Family Research Council in 2021 voted 100%.
Three legislative pieces Senator Budd assisted with or sponsors are as followed; The Financial
Services and General Government Appropriations, which assist in allocating funds for the
Department of Treasury and courts, along with the regulation of SBA loans and grants; he also
assisted in the Clean Up Code Act of 2019, which repeals specified sections of the Federal
Criminal Code, including transport of chestnut plants and alligator grass. Another legislative
piece Senator Budd assisted in was the No Bonuses for Tax Delequient IRS Employees Act. HR
1599 informs that the IRS is unable to give financial bonuses to agency employees who
themselves own back taxes, this legislatiev piece also prevemts extra time off to those
employees.
As Senator Thom Tillis has an extensive background dating back to 2003 and has
continued till this day. Senator Tillis is Republican and Catholic and he started as a
commissioner and then from 2006 until 2014 he served in the House of Representatives. In 2015
he became Senator Thom Tillis who stood firmly with biblical and conservative standards.
Senator Tillis wasn’t born in North Carolina but takes pride in bettering the state, he was born in
Florida on August 20th in 1960 and started as a Representative in 2006 with the 98th District in
Mecklenburg. When he won in 2014 for a spot in the Senate it was against Kay Hagen and he
came out on top with a victorious win. Senator Tillis advocates for healthcare reform, national
security, and tax policy. Senator Tillis assisted in some phenominal legislative pieces, and as a
First Responder I respect his assisting in the Protecting America’s First Respinders Act of 2019.
He also helped with the Protect Act of 2019 and the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2019. The
interest group ratings are slightly different than the others and while the American’s for
Democratic Action is at 0%, the American Civil Liberties Union votes 75% between the years
2021-2022; ACU votes 74% between the years 2021-2022 and the Famile Research Council
votes 96% in 2021. Senator Tillis is apart of 14 legislative committees and favors the 2nd
Amendment.
I do believe that the Representatives for North Carolina along with the Senators from
North Carolina have put in great effort to improve the state, I also agree with them taking action
on important topics rather than things that are less severe than other things that are taking place
throughout our state.
References
Presidential voting trends in North Carolina - Ballotpedia. (n.d.).
Ballotpedia.Hhttps://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_voting_trends_in_North_Carolina
Garbuio, C. (2020). N.C. Political history.HThe
Appalachian.Hhttps://theappalachianonline.com/n-c-political-history/
Congressional Academic Medicine Caucus | AAMC. (n.d.).
AAMC.Hhttps://www.aamc.org/advocacy-policy/congressional-academic-medicine-caucus
Murphy introduces legislation to extend veterans affairs services | Congressman Greg
Murphy. (2023, September 12). Congressman Greg
Murphy.Hhttps://murphy.house.gov/media/press-releases/murphy-introduces-legislation-extend-
veterans-affairs-services
The voter’s self defense system. (n.d.). Vote Smart.Hhttps://justfacts.votesmart.org/search?
q=28546-8706
Voting Maps/Redistricting | NCSBE. (n.d.).Hhttps://www.ncsbe.gov/results-data/voting-
maps-redistricting
