(The Center Square) – Five months and two weeks from Election Day in North Carolina, Democrats continue to lose registrations, Republicans are gaining them nominally, and the independent ranks is swelling at nearly the exact rate as total registrations.
Saturday’s seven-day update from the State Board of Elections, for the first time, had both major parties below 30% even with the tenths rounded up. Unaffiliated voters make up 39.6% of the more than 7.7 million registrations, with Republicans at 29.9% and Democrats 29.8%.
In the past six weeks, the total registrations have gone up 33,044. The shares are a 32,988 increase for unaffiliated registrations, 445 increase for Republicans and a loss of 551 for Democrats.
For context in the change of landscape, at what is generally considered a landmark Election Day in 2008, the state’s total registrations were 6,264,733. Those unaffiliated numbered just under 1.4 million (22.2%) while Democrats’ 2,866,669 had 45.8% share and Republicans’ 2,002,416 was a 32% share. Barack Obama became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to carry the state, by a mere 14,177 votes of more than 4.3 million cast.
The state’s lone U.S. Senate seat was won by Democrat Kay Hagan, and the 13 U.S. House seats were divvied up eight Democrats and five Republicans.
The Council of State went 8-2 to Democrats. Incumbent Republicans’ Steve Troxler and Cherie Berry remained commissioners of agriculture and labor, respectively. And the General Assembly was 30-20 Democrats in the Senate and 68-52 Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Today, the Council of State is a 5-5 split, and on Election Day 2024 the General Assembly majorities were 30-20 Republicans in the Senate and 71-49 Republicans in the House of Representatives.
In the Nov. 3 election, North Carolinians will choose a U.S. senator, all 14 members of the U.S. House, and all 170 members of the General Assembly. Requested absentee ballots by mail can begin going out the Friday before Labor Day – or, 15 weeks from Friday.
