For those who thought Democrat Bev Perdue wouldn't do well in Mecklenburg, where Republican Pat McCrory won seven terms as Charlotte mayor, here's the answer: She did run over the mayor, but she barely beat him with 49.04% of the vote --198,631 in all -- to McCrory's 48.94% of the vote -- 198,246. It was a grand total of a 385-vote edge for Perdue. With 195 precincts in Mecklenburg, that's a difference of less than 2 votes per precinct.
It's a reminder that a Democratic candidate can do well in Mecklenburg -- but other Democrats did a lot better. Barack Obama won 61.8 percent of the vote in the presidential race and Kay Hagon won 61.6 percent, with a 100,000 vote cushion over their opponents.
Maybe one difference was Perdue's Eastern N.C. ads critical of the Charlotte mayor and suggesting the big-city folks couldn't understand rural needs. Or maybe it was reflective of the struggle Perdue had in a number of places to persuade voters she deserved to be governor.
Still, fans of ACC basketball understand this: blowout or a narrow in, a W is still a W and counts just as much in the final standings.
