The voting patterns don’t predict November outcomes on their own, but they do show that Democratic voters were more engaged and more unified during the 2026 primary phase. That level of organization could carry into November if ongoing policy decisions from the Trump administration continue to create financial and healthcare pressures for the very voters who supported him. Rising costs, reduced access to services, and widespread frustration with federal leadership could weaken his political standing.
I served as an election official in Durham County Precinct 20 yesterday. Most voters who came were young and several brought their children to show the importance of voting. One thing was clear: many wanted change. I’m glad Foushee apparently hung on. As a person who covered campaign appearances in Tennessee by Presidents First Bush, Carter and Regan in 1980 as well as Al Gore and Howard
Baker I could clearly see Alam’s photo in Republican attack ads against Cooper this fall . Right, Thomas?
Re: Foushee, ”reliable and consistent.” Please explain what you mean. I acknowledge that I’ve only lived in the district for 2 1/2 years. However, I have followed her consistently and attended several of the local events she has sponsored. I cannot tell that she’s done anything except to be a loyal foot soldier for the party. I have not seen any independent thinking to initiate action. She is cochair of the Democratic innovation initiative in science and technology. The statement of the entity and her public statements indicate in ignorance of science and technology, artificial intelligence, and the ways science and technology reinforce societal hierarchy, and extreme capitalism. Simply put, the statement does not provide any protections for the public from exploitation by tech companies and political manipulation. It seems to me that she simply rides local populism to remain in office. In full disclosure, I teach graduate level ethics of science and technology in the realm of foreign affairs. The Democrats should be pushing regulations on AI and technology to protect the public. I have seen nothing to that effect. Rather, I have seen continuing compliance with the wishes of the tech industry.
Party discipline?! The only one who gets away with voting with the Republicans is Don Davis. True both in Raleigh and DC. I hope he wins but I am not sending money.
I would tweak that “but to make that power effective in a state with a weak governor” to read “but to make that power effective in a state with a weakENED governor”. Josh Stein isn’t inherently weak, but the OFFICE has been weakened by a venal Republican majority in the legislature. Other than that subtle difference, I agree with you though. This is one of those times where “we must hang together, or we will surely hang separately”.
I got my numbers later than you did apparently, because I have the total GOP Votes cast as 625,667. That was around 7:45 this morning, but the thing that really made my eye pop open was that Cooper didn’t just smoke the entire Democratic field with 92% of the vote, he smoked the entire REPUBLICAN FIELD BY HIMSELF — by over 133,000 votes (758,808-625,667). IF this is a preview of November, prepare to be back to our senators cancelling each other out lie they did for so long prior to 2014. (At least until we can get shut of Budd.)
I was okay with either candidate in the 4th, though I concur with your assessment that Foushee needs to read the tea leaves. I think she’s started to get the picture, because she’s dropped AIPAC, but there was a lot of AI money that fell from the sky in the latter days of the campaign. And if I’m honest, that race *may* not be over yet. I don’t see 1200 votes coming out of provisionals and mail ins, but there could be enough to trigger a recount.
And I can’t weigh in here without mentioning my favorite not-quite-as-dark-as-he-once-seemed horse, Richard Ojeda in the 9th. He won his primary by a comfortable margin, but *somebody* dropped a $600,000 money bomb into Hudson’s war chest, which is not something I’d expect to see happen with a well-entrenched incumbent in a “safe” district. But no amount of money can buy authenticity, and Ojeda’s getting his name recognition the old-fashioned way — street by street all across the district for the last year. I ran into him by random chance at the Dropkick Murphys show in Raleigh last month (in between opening acts) and while I was talking to him two other people recognized him and came up to talk to him. In Raleigh. I’ve said it before, don’t sleep on the 9th. And the 11th might be within reach as well.
I did not mean that Josh Stein is a weak governor. North Carolina has one of the weakest governors in the country structurally and it's a function of our constitution.
*I* was pretty sure what you meant, but I’m not everybody, so everybody might not read it that way. I remember when the NC Governor got line item veto it was a BFD.
and I expected Cooper to win, but I’m not sure I saw such a lopsided win on the cards. That was eye-opening. Especially the part about mopping the floor with the entire GOP side of the ledger combined. I don’t know how well that translates to the General, since turnout will no doubt be higher and the dirty tricks squad will get up to their shenanigans too (before during and after, no doubt). But I’ll take the seismic level win while we have it.
It’s a knife in the gut to my actual Dem brother Michael Whatley that people now think Whatley’s are magats. Trump’s Michael Whatley is from Saginaw Michigan. Why are NC Republican leaders usually an invasive species?
In Texas, my impression is that Crockett is more the rhetorical bomb-thrower than the extreme progressive. Talarico's style is much more sedate, but he's actually to the left of her on gun rights and openly savages billionaires, while she's not as focused on traditional class warfare. Crockett favors something along the lines of a public option for health coverage and Talarico backs universal Medicare. Stylistically, he probably would fare better than Crockett, and face it, a Black woman would face particular challenges anywhere in the South. I guess we'll see how the general goes, and who he faces.
Well stated about Jasmine Crockett whose fighting spirit I totally appreciate. Talarico seems skilled at crafting a righteous populist message that will offer a good contrast with ether Paxton or Cornyn. Meanwhile we need to be sure that Roy wins here and Jon Ossoff in Georgia.
The voting patterns don’t predict November outcomes on their own, but they do show that Democratic voters were more engaged and more unified during the 2026 primary phase. That level of organization could carry into November if ongoing policy decisions from the Trump administration continue to create financial and healthcare pressures for the very voters who supported him. Rising costs, reduced access to services, and widespread frustration with federal leadership could weaken his political standing.
I served as an election official in Durham County Precinct 20 yesterday. Most voters who came were young and several brought their children to show the importance of voting. One thing was clear: many wanted change. I’m glad Foushee apparently hung on. As a person who covered campaign appearances in Tennessee by Presidents First Bush, Carter and Regan in 1980 as well as Al Gore and Howard
Baker I could clearly see Alam’s photo in Republican attack ads against Cooper this fall . Right, Thomas?
Re: Foushee, ”reliable and consistent.” Please explain what you mean. I acknowledge that I’ve only lived in the district for 2 1/2 years. However, I have followed her consistently and attended several of the local events she has sponsored. I cannot tell that she’s done anything except to be a loyal foot soldier for the party. I have not seen any independent thinking to initiate action. She is cochair of the Democratic innovation initiative in science and technology. The statement of the entity and her public statements indicate in ignorance of science and technology, artificial intelligence, and the ways science and technology reinforce societal hierarchy, and extreme capitalism. Simply put, the statement does not provide any protections for the public from exploitation by tech companies and political manipulation. It seems to me that she simply rides local populism to remain in office. In full disclosure, I teach graduate level ethics of science and technology in the realm of foreign affairs. The Democrats should be pushing regulations on AI and technology to protect the public. I have seen nothing to that effect. Rather, I have seen continuing compliance with the wishes of the tech industry.
Party discipline?! The only one who gets away with voting with the Republicans is Don Davis. True both in Raleigh and DC. I hope he wins but I am not sending money.
I would tweak that “but to make that power effective in a state with a weak governor” to read “but to make that power effective in a state with a weakENED governor”. Josh Stein isn’t inherently weak, but the OFFICE has been weakened by a venal Republican majority in the legislature. Other than that subtle difference, I agree with you though. This is one of those times where “we must hang together, or we will surely hang separately”.
I got my numbers later than you did apparently, because I have the total GOP Votes cast as 625,667. That was around 7:45 this morning, but the thing that really made my eye pop open was that Cooper didn’t just smoke the entire Democratic field with 92% of the vote, he smoked the entire REPUBLICAN FIELD BY HIMSELF — by over 133,000 votes (758,808-625,667). IF this is a preview of November, prepare to be back to our senators cancelling each other out lie they did for so long prior to 2014. (At least until we can get shut of Budd.)
I was okay with either candidate in the 4th, though I concur with your assessment that Foushee needs to read the tea leaves. I think she’s started to get the picture, because she’s dropped AIPAC, but there was a lot of AI money that fell from the sky in the latter days of the campaign. And if I’m honest, that race *may* not be over yet. I don’t see 1200 votes coming out of provisionals and mail ins, but there could be enough to trigger a recount.
And I can’t weigh in here without mentioning my favorite not-quite-as-dark-as-he-once-seemed horse, Richard Ojeda in the 9th. He won his primary by a comfortable margin, but *somebody* dropped a $600,000 money bomb into Hudson’s war chest, which is not something I’d expect to see happen with a well-entrenched incumbent in a “safe” district. But no amount of money can buy authenticity, and Ojeda’s getting his name recognition the old-fashioned way — street by street all across the district for the last year. I ran into him by random chance at the Dropkick Murphys show in Raleigh last month (in between opening acts) and while I was talking to him two other people recognized him and came up to talk to him. In Raleigh. I’ve said it before, don’t sleep on the 9th. And the 11th might be within reach as well.
I did not mean that Josh Stein is a weak governor. North Carolina has one of the weakest governors in the country structurally and it's a function of our constitution.
*I* was pretty sure what you meant, but I’m not everybody, so everybody might not read it that way. I remember when the NC Governor got line item veto it was a BFD.
and I expected Cooper to win, but I’m not sure I saw such a lopsided win on the cards. That was eye-opening. Especially the part about mopping the floor with the entire GOP side of the ledger combined. I don’t know how well that translates to the General, since turnout will no doubt be higher and the dirty tricks squad will get up to their shenanigans too (before during and after, no doubt). But I’ll take the seismic level win while we have it.
It’s a knife in the gut to my actual Dem brother Michael Whatley that people now think Whatley’s are magats. Trump’s Michael Whatley is from Saginaw Michigan. Why are NC Republican leaders usually an invasive species?
Two votes! Unreal.
In Texas, my impression is that Crockett is more the rhetorical bomb-thrower than the extreme progressive. Talarico's style is much more sedate, but he's actually to the left of her on gun rights and openly savages billionaires, while she's not as focused on traditional class warfare. Crockett favors something along the lines of a public option for health coverage and Talarico backs universal Medicare. Stylistically, he probably would fare better than Crockett, and face it, a Black woman would face particular challenges anywhere in the South. I guess we'll see how the general goes, and who he faces.
Well stated about Jasmine Crockett whose fighting spirit I totally appreciate. Talarico seems skilled at crafting a righteous populist message that will offer a good contrast with ether Paxton or Cornyn. Meanwhile we need to be sure that Roy wins here and Jon Ossoff in Georgia.