About 20 years ago, in the early 2000s, Paul Shumaker’s party began experiencing a troubling trend.
Shumaker, a Republican operative with a classic Carolinian drawl, laid it out for Al Jazeera in stark terms: Republican registration started declining, while the number of “unaffiliated” voters gradually rose.
“Now there are no liberal Republicans left, and there are fewer moderate Republicans, too,” Shumaker said.
He shared data showing how both major parties, Republicans and Democrats, have, in total, invested more than $147m in the state over the last 10 years — but even that couldn’t stop an “explosion” of unaffiliated voters, who are now the clear majority.
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Of the 8.5 million voters in North Carolina this year, approximately 38 percent are registered as “unaffiliated”. That dwarfs the 32 percent who identify as Democrat and the 30 percent who say they’re Republican.
This explosion of “unaffiliated” voters dovetails with larger demographic trends showing Americans bucking traditional party labels, adding to the unpredictability of elections.
However, that doesn’t mean “unaffiliated” voters will opt for a third-party candidate. Surveys have shown that the majority of independent voters do, in fact, “lean” consistently towards either the Republican side or the Democrats.
Which is to say, they’re very much up for grabs — and in demand — by the two major parties.
“Neither party can win without building a coalition for unaffiliated voters,” Shumaker said.
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Republicans, he explained, need to appeal to unaffiliated voters in the suburbs and cities — two areas Democrats are expected to win.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris waves to the crowd at a campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on October 13 [Jonathan Drake/Reuters]
Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to use “unaffiliated” voters to compensate for losses in their base. More than 2.4 million people in North Carolina registered as Democrat as of October 26 — down from more than 2.6 million at around the same point in the 2020 election cycle.
Party strategists like Jackson hope to make up the loss by appealing to voters in left-wing strongholds — typically urban centres — while holding ground in rural areas.
After all, North Carolina has the largest rural population in the US after Texas.
“People often say you have to lose by less in the rural areas, but that’s not true: You just have to stop the bleeding,” Jackson said. “If Kamala Harris holds [outgoing President] Joe Biden’s margins, she could have a shot.”
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Mac McCorkle, a Democratic political consultant with a cheery, amiable aura, refers to unaffiliated voters as “precious” to his party. He believes only a small number of voters will decide whether North Carolina backs Harris or Trump.
“It’s not like 20 percent of the electorate can go either way,” he said. “We’re talking about a race that’ll be decided by one, two, three percent.”
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Jonas Aidoo had a double-double, and his 17 points led seven in double figures as Arkansas rolled past North Carolina A&T 95-67 on Saturday for the Razorbacks’ fifth straight win.
Aidoo made 7 of 13 shots and grabbed 11 rebounds. Boogie Fland also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists. Adou Thiero scored 14 points, Karter Knox 11 and D.J. Wagner 10 as all five starters reached double figures. Off the bench, Trevon Brazile had 11 points and Billy Richmond III scored 10. Brazile had nine rebounds.
Aidoo scored the first five points of the game and Arkansas (10-2) led 12-3 in the early going. Later in the half, Richmond scored seven consecutive Arkansas points and the Razorbacks were out front 28-17. They went on to lead 54-31 at the break.
An 8-0 run midway through the second half put Arkansas ahead by 36 points and the lead peaked at 37 when Aidoo scored in the paint with about 9 minutes remaining.
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Ryan Forrest led the Aggies (3-10) with 19 points and eight rebounds. Landon Glasper added 16 points.
It was the Razorbacks’ second game on their home floor this month. Next, they will host Oakland on Dec. 30.
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FAYETTEVILLE — Playing its first game in a week, the Arkansas basketball team showed no rust Saturday.
The Razorbacks opened with a 12-3 run and were never threatened during a 95-67 victory over North Carolina A&T at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas (10-2) won its fifth consecutive game and played for the final time before a break for Christmas. The Razorbacks are not scheduled to play again until a Dec. 30 home game against Oakland.
Jonas Aidoo had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocked shots before the first media timeout to spark the early run. Aidoo finished with season highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes.
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Aidoo was one of seven Razorbacks who scored in double figures. Adou Thiero scored 14 points, Boogie Fland scored 12 to go with 11 assists, Trevon Brazile and Karter Knox scored 11 apiece, and D.J. Wagner and Billy Richmond had 10.
Zvonimir Ivisic (8 points) was the only Arkansas rotation player to score less than 10. The Razorbacks played the game without guard Nelly Davis, who sat out with soreness in his shooting wrist. Davis is averaging 9.9 points per game.
Arkansas shot 50% (37 of 74) with 26 assists and held the Aggies to 36% (27 of 75) shooting.
The Razorbacks led 54-31 at halftime and by as many as 37 points in the second half.
North Carolina A&T (3-10) lost its eighth consecutive game. The Aggies were led in scoring by Marion native Ryan Forrest (19 points) and Fayetteville native Landon Glasper (16).
So far, nearly half of the 10,129 displaced households the Federal Emergency Management Agency has worked with have been placed in temporary shelters across the state, such as hotels, apartments and mobile homes, FEMA said.The remaining households have already found long-term housing, a spokesperson said.
While the temporary housing program was scheduled to end on Dec. 12, federal officials said that FEMA caseworkers wouldn’t force people from their temporary quarters and that they would work urgently to find them permanent shelter.
FEMA has spent $262 million on individual rental assistance and home repairs for Helene survivors in North Carolina, a spokesperson said. Another $274 million went to repairing infrastructure and removing debris. More financial help will be coming, the spokesperson said, but how much hasn’t been established yet.
Local officials said they are grateful for the assistance, but much more aid will be needed to restore Asheville, Biltmore Village and surrounding areas to their former condition.
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Manheimer and other North Carolina officials traveled to Washington last month to ask President Joe Biden and members of Congress for $25 billion to repair homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure in western North Carolina.
“We’re asking for so many exceptions and rules [to be] interpreted broadly, because this was an abnormal hurricane because of landslides, massive flooding, wind damage and large amounts of debris,” Manheimer said.
Private road and bridge repairs are costly, and there isn’t a specific federalprogram designed to repair them, she said.
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