Charlotte's Election was 52-48, But It Wasn't That Competitive

I have a new blog post up at WFAE's The Party Line that goes more in-depth into the recent mayoral election in Charlotte and, while the end result appeared to be competitive at a 52-48 spread, for most precincts, it was solidly for one candidate over the other.

Redistricting and Gerrymandering in North Carolina

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Abe Holtzman Public Policy Forum at NC State University on redistricting and gerrymandering in North Carolina, presented by NC State's School of Public & International Affairs with funding provided by the MacArthur Foundation.

The folks at Common Cause NC videotaped the presentations, and my presentation starts at about the 40 minute mark.

The first speaker, Dr. Andy Taylor, professor of political science at NC State University, began the forum with a general overview of the principles behind redistricting in North Carolina. The second speaker, Dr. Allan Parnell of the Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, discussed the growth in population in the state since the 2010 census, and then I presented some thoughts on how it's not just the maps, but us as polarized and sorted voters, who are impacting this issue.

The forum concluded with remarks from NC State Representatives Grier Martin and Skip Stam.

An update: Rob Christensen at the Raleigh News & Observer has written a column on the forum last week.

Could I-77 Take A Toll on McCrory's Re-Election Bid?

I spoke with Erik Spanberg of the Charlotte Business Journal about the pending fight over I-77 toll lanes in Charlotte and Governor McCrory's re-election bid.

Some Analysis of Charlotte's Mayoral Election

There will be a blog post going up on WFAE's The Party Line blog with some analysis about Charlotte's mayoral contest. Here are some graphs that are associated with the post:

WFAE's Charlotte Talks Previews Tuesday's City Elections

Was a panelist on WFAE's Charlotte Talks about next Tuesday's elections in Charlotte, focusing mostly on the mayoral contest and the city council seats and candidates.

Bow Tie Caucus Convened Friday on Time Warner Cable News' "Capital Tonight"

Was interviewed as a member of the Bow Tie Caucus on TWC New's "Capital Tonight" about the UNC Presidential hire and Hillary Clinton's past week.

A feature on Charlotte's mayoral election contest

I know it's been a while since the last post--been a busy semester so far, but was recently interviewed for a feature on Charlotte's GOP mayoral candidate. Should have another WFAE The Party Line blog post up soon about the dynamics of who exactly tends to show up in the Queen City electoral contests.

Shakespearean Sonnets for the Silly Summer Season

Had some real fun writing this one at WFAE's The Party Line blog.

New blog post at WFAE's The Party Line on Millennials

Will be on WFAE's Charlotte Talks talking about millennials and their role in reshaping politics. In preparing for it, I've written a blog post at The Party Line on millennial registered voters in North Carolina.

Defining Urban, Suburban and Rural Counties in North Carolina

The below map uses the 2013 OMB Memo on Metropolitan Statistical Areas for classifying urban and suburban counties.