Triangle the state's important region for Democrats
This will surprise almost no one: The Triangle area of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill is the most influential in helping Democrats win federal office and making the state competitive in presidential politics. Without it, President Obama would not have won North Carolina. So says Public Policy Polling analyst Tom Jensen in this note:
How important is the Triangle to continued Democratic gains in federal elections in North Carolina?
It was the only media market made up mostly of North Carolina counties to vote for Barack Obama last fall.
Obama took the region 56-43, racking up a plurality of 186,000 votes.
His next best performances were in the Triad and greater Charlotte, each of which he lost 52-47. In the Triad his deficit was 43,000 votes and in Charlotte it was 66,000.
He lost 53-46 in Asheville, Greenville, and Wilmington. In Asheville it was a deficit of 22k votes, in Greenville 25k, and in Wilmington 16k.
Add up those losses in all of the other state's media markets and it comes to 172k, allowing that 186k margin in the Triangle to make up for losing everywhere else.
There's not much doubt what region's growth is contributing the most to North Carolina's increased competitiveness in Presidential politics.
This analysis is also available on our blog:
