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The Democrats’ Countrypolitan Problem in North Carolina:

Progressive Challenge and Opportunity

Mac McCorkle and Rachel Salzberg

Jan 25, 2022

"Inquiring progressive minds can’t help but ask: Why has North Carolina remained stuck on the cusp of turning into a solidly blue state? Or in more formal political science parlance: Why hasn’t a durable Democratic majority emerged in North Carolina?"

Polis is pleased to announce the publishing of two related articles on contemporary North Carolina politics by Polis’ former Director and Sanford School Professor Mac McCorkle with Rachel Salzberg, a 2020 graduate of the Sanford Master’s Program.

Posted below is McCorkle and Salzberg’s analysis of the 2020 presidential election in North Carolina entitled “The Democrats’ Countrypolitan Problem in North Carolina: Progressive Challenge and Opportunity.”

In the words of Sanford political scientist and new Polis Director Deondra Rose, “the McCorkle-Salzberg articles constitute a new interpretation of contemporary North Carolina politics that goes beyond the standard narrative about the so-called rural-urban divide as the crucial driver of statewide election results.”

Click here to read the full press release

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