Republican party are winners in the 2020 midterm elections but experts say it is not the expected red wave.
Jackson County was no exception. The turnout for this election was 50% which is lower then 2018 and a lot lower from the 2020 elections when over 72% of registered voters in the county casted their ballots.
WCU political science professor, head of the Public Policy Institute and expert on all thing’s politics in North Carolina, Dr. Chris Cooper responded to few questions from The Western Carolina Journalist.
“It looks like Republicans did well in Jackson County. And that’s an understatement,” Chris Cooper commented in an email to WCJ. Cooper said that there might be re-count for the two close races for County Commission. However the Board of Election during the press conference on Nov. 11 said that this will not be final until the Canvas day on Nov. 18 and the difference in the votes between the candidates needs to be less then 1%.
With the present results Cooper does expects policies that are more in line with the conservative politics.
Even with these results Cooper says that Jackson is still purple-ish.
“Jackson County has been the lone purple county in the west. Our politicians and policies are not as liberal as the bright blue dot in Buncombe or the bright red counties elsewhere in the region. While we hewed a little redder in 2022, the position relative to the rest of the region will remain,” Cooper wrote.
In a story for WRAL is quoting Cooper that redistricting will be again on the table with Republicans winning the majority in the North Carolina Supreme Court.
“Redistricting the congressional maps will be on the agenda without question. Abortion might be a bit trickier as the Republicans are one seat short of a supermajority, meaning that they need to get one Democrat to join to override the Governor’s veto. As for Medicaid expansion, it does appear that the appetite for expansion is greater than it was just a few months ago. I don’t think last night produced anything to question that conclusion,” responded Cooper in an email.
Cooper also thinks that with the republican control of the North Carolina Supreme Court the Voter ID legislation is likely to come back.
Related Story: BPR: Republicans win big in WNC
