2018 Election Recap

Election Day has come and gone and big changes are in store from Congress all the way down to the local level. Nationally, Democrats have flipped at least thirty-three seats in the House of Representatives meaning they will have a healthy majority in the House starting in 2019. In the Senate, Republicans are poised to pick up between one and three seats, depending on the results of a runoff in Mississippi and a recount in Florida, meaning they will maintain their majority in the Senate.

In North Carolina, Democrats picked up a number of seats and were able to break the supermajority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, though Republicans will still hold strong majorities in both chambers. The breaking of the supermajorities has the potential to fundamentally alter the power dynamic in Raleigh, as Governor Cooper now has the ability to veto legislation without having to worry about the GOP-majority easily overriding his veto. That means that although leadership positions will continue to be held by the GOP in both chambers, the Democrats will now theoretically have a seat at the table moving forward.

Here in Wake County, Democrats won all the seats on the local Board of Commissioners. The Democrats managed to knock off several incumbents in the House and Senate, and the GOP’s sole remaining representative in Wake County will be Senator John Alexander while the other fifteen House and Senate seats will be filled by Democrats. Voters in Wake County also overwhelmingly approved $349 million in bonds to expand Wake Technical Community College, $548 million in general obligation bonds to help school construction, and $120 million in bonds for parks and greenways. These bonds will increase property taxes by approximately $38 for every $100,000 in assessed property value.

For more information or questions, contact Dustin Engelken at dengelken@triangleaptassn.org.