Anderson Clayton v. SBOE and other news.

North Carolina Democrats' wins in municipal elections were both wide and deep .

After Wednesday’s post, I got a bit of pushback because I didn’t mention North Carolina races. When I wrote my post early that morning, I didn’t have the information. Our state didn’t have any statewide or high-profile races, so the information wasn’t in one place. Most were relatively obscure municipal races in small towns across North Carolina. The information trickled in throughout the day.

I made up for it on Thursday. North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, former political reporter Travis Fain, and I recorded an election roundup. I hope you’ll watch it.

Democratic wins in North Carolina were both broad and deep. According to Anderson, the party flipped more than 150 seats and the wins came in small towns, big cities, and suburban areas. The Assembly called it a “blue wave” even though many races were ostensibly nonpartisan.

In Charlotte, Democrats swept contested city council races, leaving just one Republican on the council. In Wake County, Democratic candidates defeated Republican mayors in Wake Forest, Holly Springs, and Fuquay Varina. Only one of the 22 GOP endorsed candidates in Wake County won. Democrats won in places like Alamance County where they took mayoral seats in both Burlington and Graham. They also won big in Guilford and New Hanover Counties.

Anderson makes a great point on the podcast. Republicans have now become a nationalized party. Everything is about Donald Trump. They’ve lost sight of the local issues that so often drive the electorate. That might work in presidential years, but Republicans are failing when Trump’s not on the ballot.

Nationally, Republicans are publicly in denial, downplaying their losses. That might make their base feel better, but it doesn’t do anything to fix the problems that led to their defeat. In order to avoid a wave election in 2026, they need to change the political environment and hoping it’s going to change on its own is probably a bad bet.

The most powerful determinant in any election cycle is the political environment. The corollary to that rule is that voters are more motivated to vote against something than for it. Anger and fear are the greatest motivators, not hope and change. People who went to the polls this year sent a message to the Republicans. Whether they receive it or not probably determines what happens next November.

In North Carolina, a similar political environment in 2026 could hand Republicans stinging losses in their remaining suburban legislative seats and cost them ones in exurban counties like Alamance. As long as prices are rising, jobs are flat, our cities are under attack, and constantly changing tariff policies ensure economic uncertainty, former Governor Roy Cooper starts the election season with a favorable wind at his back. If Trump switches gears, the winds could shift, too.

On another note, Anderson Clayton managed to throw the whole state auditor’s office into turmoil with a single tweet. It’s a great story and one with lessons for anyone in politics or public service. Again, Brian Anderson of Anderson Alerts got the whole story. Read it here.

Apparently, the voter search tool on the State Board of Election’s website failed on the last day of early voting. The tool lets people see if they are currently registered and where they are supposed to vote. After the GOP legislature stripped control of the SBOE from the governor and gave it to Republican auditor Dave Boliek, that failure is a bit embarrassing. Democrats, of course, pounced because that’s what parties do.

The North Carolina Democratic Party twitter account blasted the SBOE for incompetence. They claimed the failure was “impacting poll workers’ ability to quickly identify and register voters.” That wasn’t quite right since the poll workers still had access to the voter rolls, but, hey, it’s Twitter and have you seen the stuff Republicans post?

Anderson reposted the tweets and wrote, “AND WHERE IN THE HELL IS STATE AUDITOR DAVE BOLIEK?” Instead of ignoring the political shots like a more seasoned political operation would have done, the SBOE decided they needed to elevate the back-and-forth. They sent out a press release blasting Clayton, who is not an elected or government official. She should take that press release as a badge of honor. Anytime you can make your opponents amplify your criticism of them, you’re winning the battle. Score one for Clayton.

(On a personal note, I’ve never been more proud than when Republicans filed complaints against me with the State Board of Elections because I was mean to them.)

Then, it comes out that the SBOE had an internal debate as to how to respond to the tweet in the first place. Patrick Gannon, the long-time spokesperson for the SBOE, is on paid leave for urging caution instead of reaction. Now, the story is not about the tweets but about turmoil within the SBOE. In addition, we all know that the newly formed State Board of Elections had problems in their first election cycle with the voter file tool. Score another for Clayton.

In the era of Trump, no slight goes unnoticed by Republicans. Thin-skin is the armor of the GOP. The SBOE should have listened to their communications professional. Patrick Gannon knew what to do, even if he’s paying the price for the incompetence of his bosses.

So the lessons of this story are listen to the people who know what they are doing and don’t mess with Anderson Clayton.