Good morning! ☀️ Here’s what you need to know about North Carolina politics today.
AN INDEPENDENT OF THE VOICE
Danielle Battaglia reports that non-affiliated candidate Shelane Etchison makes North Carolina history.
Etchison, an Army veteran, became the first congressional candidate in modern state history to appear on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate, according to Chris Cooperprofessor of political science at Western Carolina University.
She made the decision to step outside the usual party primaries in a district that favored Republicans, saying it is partly due to the way state lawmakers redrew North Carolina’s 14 congressional districts.
If she had run as a Democrat, she would have little chance of winning.
How hard was it to get on the ballot? Gathering the necessary signatures for an unaffiliated candidate was no easy task, but Etchison completed the job in less than two months.
The requisite 7,460 residents of her 9th Congressional District — which includes Fort Liberty and Alamance Army Base, Hoke, Moore, Randolph and parts of Chatham, Cumberland and Guilford counties — signed her petition and their signatures were verified.
Etchison faces Republican Rep. Richard Hudson and Democratic challenger Nigel Bristow in November.
THE COSTS OF REMOVALS
It cost North Carolina millions to organize and conduct the primary, according to reports Kyle Ingram.
The roots of the state’s runoff elections — which occur when candidates fail to gain a certain percentage of the vote — date back to the Jim Crow era, when such steps were taken to dilute voting for blacks, Cooper said ..
North Carolina is one of only nine states with such drains, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Dakota.
Less than 3% of eligible voters in North Carolina participated in a runoff primary in May.
House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters this month that he considered this month’s primary turnout “anemic” but that he had no substitute for a runoff.
Sen. Paul Newtonchairman of the Senate Elections Committee, told The News & Observer that he may be open to the idea of electoral reform.
That’s all for today. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol news.
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