We’re still losing our shit — in a good way — about last week’s election results. The results were especially amazing in the state of North Carolina, where women and community organizing overcame incredible odds to win across the state.
North Carolina may have seemed like a red state recently, but what it actually was is a gerrymandered state. A New York Times analysis found NC to be the 4th most gerrymandered in the country. (The #1 most gerrymandered state was Texas, where “the many beat the money” this year too!)
Red Wine & Blue’s goal this election was to break the Republican supermajority in NC… and instead, we got the supermajority! And behind every one of those wins is a candidate who worked really hard and a community who put their whole selves into this election to beat big money and gerrymandering.
This week on the podcast, we were joined by three members of RWB’s Team North Carolina: Tonya Martin, our North Carolina Program Director; Lori Downey, our Deputy Director; and Kim Biondi, one of our NC Regional Organizers. They told us all about how hard women worked in the Tar Heel state this year and shared some of the best wins from last week.
Since 2010, Republicans have held enough seats in the North Carolina legislature to restrict abortion access, expand private school voucher programs, and make life more expensive for North Carolina families. The representatives who turned their backs on their constituents lost their seats.
In their place, voters elected the right people: everyday people who care about their communities and want to make life better for their neighbors. Now they have the chance to take that commitment to the legislature in January and finally start working for the people they represent. And suburban voters helped make it happen, swinging an extraordinary 38 points toward Democrats since 2022.
So many amazing women worked so hard this year to elect good representatives — and many ran for office themselves! We’re excited to keep sharing those stories with you.