North Carolina Democratic Party
Chairman	Randy Voller
Senate leader	Martin Nesbitt, Jr.
House leader	Larry Hall
Headquarters	220 Hillsborough St. Raleigh, NC 27603
Ideology	American Liberalism Progressivism Center-left
National affiliation	Democratic Party
Seats in the Upper House	19 / 50
Seats in the Lower House	52 / 120
Website
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 the historic Goodwin house, which is located in the downtown area of Raleigh at 220 Hillsborough Street.^[1]

History [edit]

The second party system emerged from a divide in the Democratic-Republican party in 1828. They split off into two groups, the Democrats, 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. Meanwhile, Eastern North Carolina was dominated by wealthy planters who tended to oppose activist government. Over 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 the 1850s 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] By 1870, the two main parties were the Conservatives (who changed their name to "Democratic-Conservatives"^[3] and then to Democrats by 1876), and the Republicans (GOP).^[4]

North Carolina was a state that from 1900-1960's was mainly Democratic.^[5] But affiliations in the latter half of the 20th century changed. Surveys taken 1968-1992 asked the public if they considered themselves Democrats or Republicans. 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%.^[6] From 1980-2004, the Republican nominee for the presidency won the state.

In spite of the largely conservative bent of North Carolina's politics, a number of liberal Democrats have been elected to represent the state at the federal level. 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, the same year Barack Obama carried the state in his victory over Republican John McCain by a margin of less than one half of a percentage point.^[7]

Recent electoral results [edit]

2006 [edit]

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.^[8][9]

2008 [edit]

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.

2010 [edit]

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.

NCDP organizations [edit]

• North Carolina Democratic Women
• Young Democrats of North Carolina
• College Democrats of North Carolina
• NC Senior Democrats
• NC Teen Democrats
• African American Caucus of the NC Democratic Party
• Hispanic American Democrats of North Carolina
• LGBT Democrats of North Carolina

^[10]

State Leadership [edit]

The state party chair is Randy Voller, who was elected in 2013.^[11] 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.^[12] Nina Slozberg-Landis is the first vice chair, Zack Hawkins is the second vice chair, Andy Ball is the third vice chair and Melvin Williams is the secretary.^[13]

Current elected officials [edit]

Members of Congress [edit]

U.S. Senate [edit]

Kay Hagan U.S. Senate.

• Kay Hagan

U.S. House of Representatives [edit]

• NC-1st: G.K. Butterfield
• NC-4th: David E. Price
• NC-7th: Mike McIntyre
• NC-12th: Mel Watt

Statewide offices [edit]

• Secretary of State: Elaine Marshall
• State Treasurer: Janet Cowell
• Attorney General: Roy Cooper
• Superintendent of Public Instruction: June Atkinson
• Commissioner of Insurance: Wayne Goodwin
• State Auditor: Beth Wood

State Legislature [edit]

• Senate Minority Leader: Martin Nesbitt
• House Minority Leader: Larry Hall

State House [edit]

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2013)

Old House of Representatives Chamber, used until 1963 at the State Capitol.

There are fifty two North Carolina Democratic house members. They are listed below.^[14]

State Senate [edit]

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2013)

Old Senate Chamber of North Carolina, used until 1963 construction of separate state legislative building.

There are nineteen North Carolina Democratic Senators. They are listed below. ^[15]

Notes [edit]

External links [edit]

• North Carolina Democratic Party
• Young Democrats of North Carolina