Greetings all. Our dear friend Anderson Clayton, the Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, joined us earlier today from Charlotte, just having left the Davidson College campus. You can find a recording and rough transcript above.
What you are going to hear in our discussion is what muscular and ambitious state parties under the guidance of strong and committed leaders like Anderson are capable of. Like Wisconsin, North Carolina is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country, and its Republican leaders are as illiberal as any set of Republicans in the country. Anderson’s multi-year plan has been to make down ballot gains including the Governorship and re-elect state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs in 2024; elect Roy Cooper, make additional downballot gains, and keep Justice Anita Earls in 2026; win the state for the Democratic nominee, make further downballot gains, and pick up at least two of the Supreme Court seats in 2028, flipping the court to Democratic control; unravel the gerrymander with a Democratic court, adopt fair maps, and take back control of the state legislatures in advance of the 2032 redistricting.
Over the last three years this community has been the largest funder of this project outside the big Party Committees, and as Anderson tells us we have a remarkable opportunity now with Roy Cooper’s strong lead at the top of the ticket to make major gains across the Tar Heel State this November and perhaps move up the calendar of her plan a bit by flipping the North Carolina this year.
I asked about what it meant that the national Republican committees had pulled out of North Carolina and ceded the Senate to Roy Cooper. Here is what she said:
The money being pulled out of the state means that we're going to take our foot and put it even harder on the gas and mash it even more. Because we do have so many more incredible races down the ballot, too, that need to see that same Democratic headwinds that we're going to get from having Governor Cooper at the top of the ticket.
I've been on Davidson's campus today, so I'm in Davidson, North Carolina, out here near Charlotte, for Beth Helfrich’s competitive state house district. Because we've got to make sure that we are hopefully not just breaking a supermajority in the state legislature this year, but that we actually get to take back the state house this year. There are 13 seats up in our state legislature that are the majority makers. And Republicans in our state legislature are getting nervous and nervous and nervous every single step of the way. They keep backing up their president, too. And so I'm really excited about the opportunities that we've got. And we're doing what we need to do here on the ground to make sure that we're protecting the vote and that we're energizing our base to get out and vote this year.
More:
We're looking at R+8, R+9 districts, and we have to. North Carolina has a gerrymandered state legislature. For anybody that does not know, one of the most gerrymandered state legislatures in the entire country still. And that is why we’re so focused on making sure we take back the NC Supreme Court, so that we can not only repeal partisan and racial gerrymandering for our congressional seats, but we can do it for our state legislative races as well.
On re-electing Anita Earls to the state Supreme Court:
Justice Earls has spent her entire career protecting the rights that people across this state, especially Republicans, have tried to disenfranchise and take away. We deserve to keep her on that bench this year as voters of North Carolina. She is a step number two. We had Justice Allison Riggs that we won in 2024 because North Carolina finds ourselves right now where Wisconsin did a few cycles ago at a 5-2 minority on our state Supreme Court. And so we needed to hold a seat with Justice Riggs in 2024. We've got to hold a seat with Justice Earls in 2026. And in 2028, I've got three Republican seats up on the North Carolina State Supreme Court that we're coming to take each and every step of the way.
We also discussed their early vote plans and their enormous effort to protect the election this November:
Hopium has seen it before.
We know what it's looked like in a state like North Carolina, one that has unfriendly courts. If you're looking at blue battleground states anywhere in the country right now, they have got, most of the time, blue courts that are going to help back them up in every way. We have Republican courts that ended up saying that even what Republicans in our state legislature and on our courts were trying to do was too much. And so I want you all to feel good about the fact that in North Carolina, especially, Republican election denialism shenanigans –– we're going to be able to stop them each and every step of the way.
Friends, please consider donating today to our Winning North Carolina fund which splits a contribution three ways - Roy Cooper for Senate, Anderson and the NC Dems, and Anita Earls for state Supreme Court. Together we’ve made great strides with Anderson and the North Carolina Dems and now we need to help them close strong and as Anderson win this thing in October!
Keep working hard all. For we have a country to save, and elections like these to win in North Carolina this November, together! - Simon
Anderson Clayton serves as the current chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. Elected at 25 years old, Anderson Clayton is the youngest chair of a state Democratic party. Chair Clayton grew up in Roxboro, North Carolina and graduated from Appalachian State University. She worked on Congresswoman Kathy Manning’s congressional campaign, in Iowa as a field organizer for the presidential campaigns of Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, and then for the Senate campaign of Amy McGrath. Prior to her election as Chair of North Carolina Democratic Party, Chair Clayton served as a chair of the Person County Democratic Party, her hometown county. Chair Clayton resides in Roxboro, NC.
