How we're going to flip North Carolina
AMANDASMILDTAKES.SUBSTACK.COM
May 29, 2026
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So many of the horrific attacks on voting rights have started right here in NC. To understand where we need to go, we have to take a look back to what happened in the last 20 years.
Under a strong VRA, Obama won NC and Democrat Kay Hagan was elected as Senator. Democrat Bev Purdue was elected as Governor.
In January of 2010, the decision from Citizens United v FEC allowed for unlimited independent political expenditures (including from corporations), significantly impacting campaign finance. (And the billionaires rejoiced!) Within just a few months, Republicans directed corporate money into a project called Operation REDMAP (Redistricting Majority Project). They spent $30 million on ads and literature to convince voters to elect Republican state legislators in the 2010 midterms. They knew that the state parties that held the majority in 2010 would get to draw maps that would last for a decade.
In North Carolina, Koch brothers’ affiliate Art Pope contributed $2.3 million to 20 conservative candidates — effectively doubling these candidates’ campaign budgets. Going into the 2010 election, Dems had a 68-52 advantage in the North Carolina State House and a 30-20 advantage in the State Senate. Eighty percent of the candidates Pope invested in won: Republicans flipped 11 State Senate seats and 15 State House seats. Republicans gained control of both houses of the North Carolina legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.
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https://amandasmildtakes.substack.com/p/how-were-going-to-flip-north-carolina