| North Carolina Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | David Parker |
| Senate leader | Martin Nesbitt, Jr. |
| House leader | Joe Hackney |
| Headquarters | 220 Hillsborough St. Raleigh, NC 27603 |
| National affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Seats in the Upper House |
19 / 50
|
| Seats in the Lower House |
52 / 120
|
| Website | |
| http://www.ncdp.org | |
| Politics of the United States Political parties Elections |
|
The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) is the North Carolina affiliate of the national Democratic Party in the United States. It is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. They are located in the historic Goodwin house which is located in the downtown area of Raleigh at 220 Hillsborough Street. [1].
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The second party system emerged from a divide in the Democratic-Republican party in 1828. They split off into two groups, the Democrats, which were led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whigs. In North Carolina, people from the west and northeast supported the Whigs mainly because they wanted education and internal improvements to help with the economy. On the other end was mainly people from the west, who were mostly wealthy planters who did not believe that any help was needed. During this time the Democrats slowly came to support many of the Whig policies on internal improvements. For the first time in history voters were splitting off into one of the two parties. In 1850 the Whigs were split by the issue of slavery. Former Confederates and Whigs eventually formed the Conservative Party and opposed the reconstruction policies enacted by the U.S. Congress following the Civil War. [2] The Conservatives later changed their name to the Democratic Party, and by 1860, the two main parties were the Democrats and the Republicans (GOP).[3].
North Carolina was a state that from 1900-1960's was mainly Democratic[4]. But affiliations in the later half of the 20th century changed. Surveys taken 1968-1992 asked the public if they considered themselves a Democrat or Republican. Those identifying themselves as Democrats dropped from 60% to less than 40%. At the same time, people identifying with Republicans rose from 20% to 40%.[5]
Even though North Carolina's politics have tended to be very conservative, that doesn't mean that the state's Democrats haven't had electoral success. For example, Jesse Helms served as U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1973-2003. In addition, from 1980-2004, the GOP nominee for President never lost North Carolina. However, John Edwards was elected to the Senate from North Carolina in 1998 and was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004. The popular conservative Elizabeth Dole, the wife of Republican Senator and Presidential candidate Bob Dole - and a one-time presidential candidate herself - was defeated for reelection in 2008 by Kay Hagan (D). This was the same year that Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) carried the state in his victory over Republican John McCain by a margin of less than one half of a percentage point.[6]
North Carolina Democrats scored impressive victories in the 2006 general elections, increasing their majorities in both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly and defeating incumbent Republican Congressman Charles Taylor. In addition, most candidates backed by Democrats in the non-partisan races for the North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected. These victories came despite controversies surrounding Jim Black, a Democrat and former Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. The State Board of Elections ruled that Black's campaign illegally accepted corporate contributions and checks with the payee line left blank. He pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge, after denying charges through the November 2006 election. He won re-election by just seven votes in a heavily Democratic district, but resigned from office in 2007.[7][8]
In 2008, the North Carolina Democratic Party once again earned major victories in state and federal elections. For the first time since 1976, the Democratic nominee carried North Carolina in the presidential election. Meanwhile, Kay Hagan was elected to the U.S. Senate over incumbent Elizabeth Dole, and Beverly Perdue was elected governor to succeed fellow Democrat Mike Easley.
In 2010, however, Republicans swept North Carolina, taking control of both houses of the General Assembly for the first time since 1896, reelecting Richard Burr to a second term by double digits, and unseating incumbent Democratic Rep. Bob Etheridge.
The state party chair is David Parker, who was elected in 2011.[10] The chair is elected by and leads the state Executive Committee, a body of more than 700 Democratic Party leaders and activists from all 100 counties, which governs the party.[11] Gwen Wilkins is the first vice chair, Doug Wilson is the second vice chair, Tony Mcewen is the third vice chair and Melvin Williams is the secretary.[12]
There are fifty two North Carolina Democratic house members. They are listed below. [13]
| Representative | District | Representative | District |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alma Adams | 58th | Kelly M. Alexander, Jr. | 107th |
| Mary B. Alexander | 106th | Larry M. Bell | 21st |
| Alice L. Bordsen | 63rd | Marcus Brandon | 60th |
| William D. Brisson | 22nd | Angela R. Bryant | 7th |
| Becky Carney | 102nd | Tricia Ann Cotham | 100th |
| James W. Crawford, Jr. | 32nd | Beverly M. Earle | 101st |
| Bill Faison | 50th | Jean Farmer-Butterfield | 24th |
| Susan C. Fisher | 114th | Elmer Floyd | 43rd |
| Rosa U. Gill | 33rd | Rick Glazier | 45th |
| Ken Goodman | 66th | Charles Graham | 47th |
| Joe Hackney | 54th | R. Phillip Haire | 119th |
| Larry D. Hall | 29th | Susi H. Hamilton | 18th |
| Pricey Harrison | 57th | Dewey L. Hill | 20th |
| Verla Insko | 56th | Darren G. Jackson | 39th |
| Maggie Jeffus | 59th | Patsy Keever | 115th |
| Marvin W. Lucas | 42nd | Paul Luebke | 30th |
| Grier Martin | 34th | Frank McGuirt | 69th |
| Marian N. McLawhorn | 9th | Henry M. Michaux, Jr. | 31st |
| Annie W. Mobley | 5th | Rodney M. Moore | 99th |
| Bill Owens | 1st | Diane Parfitt | 44th |
| Earline W. Parmon | 72nd | Garland E. Pierce | 48th |
| Ray Rapp | 118th | Deborah K. Ross | 38th |
| Timothy L. Spear | 2nd | Joe P. Toison | 23rd |
| William L. Wainwright | 12th | Edith D. Warren | 8th |
| Jennifer Weiss | 35th | W.A. (Winkie) Wilkins | 55th |
| Larry Womble | 71st | Michael H. Wray | 27th |
There are nineteen North Carolina Democratic Senators. They are listed below. [14]
| Senator | District | Senator | District |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Atwater | 18th | Doug Berger | 7th |
| Dan Blue | 14th | Daniel G. Clodfelter | 37th |
| Charlie Smith Dannelly | 38th | Linda Garrou | 32nd |
| Malcolm Graham | 40th | Clark Jenkins | 3rd |
| Ed Jones | 4th | Eleanor Kinnaird | 23rd |
| Eric Mansfield | 21st | Floyd B. McKissick, Jr. | 20th |
| Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr. | 49th | William R. Purcell | 25th |
| Gladys A. Robinson | 28th | Josh Stein | 16th |
| Don Vaughan | 27th | Michael P. Walters | 13th |
| Stan White | 1st |