- Just ahead on Black Issues for a midterm election, 2022 results are in, our state's big winner, Ted Budd over Sherry Beasley for the Senate seat.

What does this win mean going forward?

Our analysts will weigh in on that and other contests, both locally and on the national front.

Stay with us.

[upbeat music] ♪ Welcome to Black Issues Forum, I'm Deborah Holt Noel.

The political ads for midterm election 2022 have come to an end, and the results are in, most of them anyway.

We're gonna look at some of the key races and results both nationally and locally, one in particular that was both local and national, North Carolina was a state to watch as we had potential to be one of four seats Democrats needed to gain control of the Senate, but that seat went to Republican, Ted Budd who won 50.7% of the vote.

It was a close race with opponent Sherry Beasley taking just 47.1%.

As of this recording, some of the national races are still too close to call.

Let's talk about it.

I wanna welcome Mary C. Curtis, host of the Equal Time Podcast, political analyst, Steve Rall, head of the Forsyth County, GOP, Harold Eustache, and grassroots organizer and student at UNC Chapel Hill, Greear Rubb, Greear Webb, my apologies.

So excited to have all four of you here today.

Before we get to the Senate race, were there any surprises, and if so, what was the biggest?

Mary, let me open with you.

- I think the biggest surprise and I think pollsters will be looking at their data as well is that Republicans had been bragging about a big red wave, if not a red tsunami sweeping over politics, big gains in the senate and house they were expecting and it was more like a red puddle.

Right now, we don't really know, it's up in the air who will control the house and the senate, but if they do control the house, which it looks like it may be likely, it will be by just a few seats.

And as far as the senate, we should be glad we're not in Georgia because you'll get a lot more ads because that is raised between Herschel Walker and Reverend Raphael Warnock has gone to a runoff.

So I think that's the biggest surprise.

And I think it gives us an insight into the American people.

People said, what will it be?

Inflation, crime, abortion, threats to democracy?

Well, the thing is, it was all of those things.

- It was, and it did give insight into who Americans are, what we care about and what we are gonna be thinking about going forward.

Steve, your thoughts, surprises?

- Well, the biggest surprise of the night on a positive note was North Carolina State Senator Wiley Nickel in the midst of millions of dollars of attacks from a MAGA warrior, Bo Hines, who was backed and endorsed by President Trump.

Senator Nickel won.

He ran a really great campaign and turned out a lot of independence and moderate Republicans and Democrats.

And so he's gonna be the newest member of the North Carolina Congressional delegation.

So that was the first surprise.

And then the second one that it wasn't a red wave, I would call it a red trickle.

But I think, and it wasn't a surprise that, well, it was a bad surprise of the North Carolina Senate getting a super majority back.

They held off a house by one seat, but ruined my night to know that the Supreme Court will now be controlled by the Republicans.

So this isn't being talked a lot, but big changes in North Carolina, and hopefully today we could talk about why that was, why the Democrats lost big, big seats which will affect the future of the state.

And I think it's, the messaging and things like that.

- We'll get to some of that.

Herald surprises, I mean, everyone's talking about the lack of this big red wave, but it still wasn't a big blue wave either.

- No, I think it shows that we have literally a nation that is 50/50 divided, I mean, in almost every way.

And it just shows kind of where our politics is, and we live in a state that is 50/50 divided.

I think one of the things to think about from North Carolina's perspective is from North Carolina Republican Party was to get Ted Butt elected and to also get our judges elected.

So from that perspective, the GOP was successful in North Carolina.

There was this push to get a super majority in both the house, the General Assembly and the Senate, but we weren't able to do, I think there was one seat we didn't get in the North Carolina house, but it was a decent night for Republicans, I think nationally, you know, it was a trickle, it was not a wave.

I think it was surprising to see how close some of these races were, particularly like Wisconsin and even Pennsylvania losing for Republicans.

The bright spot was Florida for the GOP.

But overall it just shows a divided nation, very.

- Yeah, a divided nation, but as you said, a split nation.

And I think that we got to see that young people came out to vote.

Right, Greear, surprises, thoughts about your group, your constituency.

- That's exactly right, Deborah, it's great to be on with you again today.

Thanks so much for having me.

You know, Mary called it a red puddle nationally, Steve, a red trickle.

I think that it was very much so, here in North Carolina particularly a bit of a Red River, and that was different than the national narrative.

I think as you mentioned, Deborah, there were some really good surprises for me, there were so many young people that turned out across the nation.

Maxwell Frost, 25, a young person of color in Florida who will become the United States Congress's first Gen Z representative.

I think that's awesome and amazing.

One quick surprise for me being a Wake County native is Wake County Sheriff elect, Willie Rowe.

I think he beat Donnie Harrison who was the former Wake County Sheriff.

Willie Rowe is a Democrat and a man that I think is committed to decency that would do great things for Wake County.

And that was a bit of a surprise to many.

I think all in all though, young people really showed that, that we have a lot to say.

Here in North Carolina, our trends when it comes to young voter participation were actually down compared to the nation.

And so that's something I'm sure we're gonna talk about today, something that I'm looking into very heavily.

But I was very proud of the peers that I talked to and engaged with this election.

They voted, they were passionate about issues and they made their passions known to candidates across the board and across the state.

- Very well.

And now let's get to the Senate race and what went right, what went wrong for Sherry Beasley.

What would you say, Mary?

She ran a good race.

She had, she was leading in the very beginning with regard to her fundraising, and then things changed.

- Well, she was leading in personal fundraising.

I think there'll be a little bit of second guessing on the part of National Democrats.

Of course, Jeff Jackson, who now is a member of the House, newly elected with that new seat, stepped aside so she could run.

But then again, we didn't see some of the big push from the National Democrats.

We didn't see someone like an Obama come in.

And that's because they were of course, protecting their incumbents and putting a lot more resources into high profile races in Pennsylvania, in Georgia, in Arizona, in Nevada.

But you know, it's red and blue and it seems like there's a rural urban divide here.

And you see many of the cities and early voting going for Sherry Beasley.

And even though she visited all of the counties around here, and so I think that's a piece of it.

She's an African American woman.

Of course, that's gonna be a big piece of it in North Carolina.

It would have been making history.

And it's interesting though, because the open seat was Richard Burr, who was a little more unpredictable as a Republican.

He did vote for the second impeachment.

And Ted Budd is very much a cultural warrior.

He is more in the MAGA camp.

Remember, he voted not to certify the election of Joe Biden as a member of the House.

So it's a different kind of Republican.

And so we'll see how that plays out because he's much more conservative.

I think everyone would agree.

Although Richard Burr course was a conservative, but she she did run a good race.

- She did, and let me pull you in, Steve, because one of the things that Mary mentioned was about national Democratic support for Beasley and their reasons why they didn't.

But North Carolina is a critical state.

I think that the Democrats could have come in and done a lot more to help her.

- Yeah, it is disappointing.

I mean, we were actually expecting President Obama to come in and that didn't happen.

So I think Mary Curtis hit it on the nail.

I mean, they were focusing on Pennsylvania, Georgia, the more high-profile races.

She did raise more money, 33 million, did the right things getting into the rural areas.

But her focus was more in terms of healthcare costs, women's reproductive rights.

And I think, part of the challenge for Justice Beasley was the fact that the Democrats made a call that including the president, that it was gonna be democracy on the ballot and women's reproductive rights after Dobbs versus Jackson, but that just wasn't the case.

I mean, I go back to 1992, President Clinton saying, "It's the economy, stupid."

And I think at the end of the day, what mattered in North Carolina was what people were paying at the pump and what people were paying at the kitchen table.

And Ted Budd, even though he is a MAGA warrior or hardliner will probably be the most conservative Republican senator in the history of our state.

He basically just said, this election's about three things, what you're paying for gas, what you're paying for groceries, and we got to control spending.

And that message really resonated, I think, and it's just Beasley, you know, didn't have the ground game in place, and because of the national people not coming in.

- Let me hear from you, Harold, about that, you know, where these issues were putting democracy on the ticket in this election.

What were your thoughts?

- Well, you know, that democracy on the ticket line as a, that's more of a Democrat line and certainly, it plays to the base, I think, for the Democratic party.

But I think as far as independent voters, I really do think it was about the kitchen table issues, especially in North Carolina the reopening of schools, the sort of economic stuff.

I think that's where North Carolina voters are the most.

And so that's the fighting ground for it.

I think, it's interesting to me because, you would think that Sherry Beasley is really a perfect candidate in a lot of ways for the North Carolina Democratic Party to have put somebody up for Senate.

And we've seen over and over in North Carolina that for whatever reason, Black candidates at that level have not been successful.

And it is just something that I think we all need to look at and figure out why, because, ultimately, we are a significant portion of the voting block here in North Carolina.

And so I don't know the answer to that, but I think when you look at Val Demings in Florida, I think even though I disagree with her issues, she is a good candidate.

It's just interesting to see and I think it's something we need to look at.

- And I would like to look at just what all of this means for us as a nation.

Greear, let me get your thoughts on this.

We're still awaiting the results of some pivotal races.

Where are we, would you say, and what's at stake?

- I think there's a lot at stake, Deborah, I agree with what the other panelists today have said overall.

And I think that there's a real reckoning right now when it comes to North Carolina in particular, but also the United States.

I wanna call it a youth reckoning.

I mean, we saw massive voter participation across the United States from young people, largely Democratic, but also unaffiliated voters.

We know that here in North Carolina, the largest voting block, excuse me, are those unaffiliated voters.

And so I think for that reason and others, we need to really look at the way that we do politics.

I know Harold was mentioning that democracy is on the ballot is more of a Democratic party line.

But I think that that actually affects us all.

I mean, there's no kitchen table, there's no house really, unless we are able to have elections that are fair, that are free unless we're able to trust those and believe those that we put into elected office.

And so I think young people are really turning out.

I think in North Carolina, this election cycle, there was really a missed opportunity by candidates on both sides to address issues that would really turn out that youth vote.

We know the young population in North Carolina, 18 to 30, is rising.

So issues like climate change, like gun control, like college loan, and debt forgiveness.

I mean, we see that President Biden in August signed the Inflation Reduction Act.

Young people care about that.

We wanna be safe in our schools, we want to be able to learn freely on our college campuses.

And we also wanna make sure that we're not leaving too big of a footprint on our environment and that we're able to sustain this climate and our globe going forward.

And so I think there's a real chance for North Carolina to step up to the plate to appeal to young voters.

And we're seeing the difference that that made nationally Deborah, if I could, in places like Pennsylvania, in places like Georgia, we'll see with the runoff election for Senate.

But in places like Nevada and Arizona where they are still counting votes and going through that Democratic process, young people and people of color are going to play a very vital role, I believe.

And it's time for North Carolina to really jump on that wave as we move forward.

- Wow, you've said a lot there and I wanna pick up on some of these issues that matter to young people.

And also transition to talking about the larger black community altogether.

In this mid-term election, were the issues that matter to Americans in general, also addressed in terms of the issues that matter to African Americans.

I would love your feedback from each of you.

Let me start with you, Mary.

- Yes.

Well I, I, all of these overall issues that all of the panelists have been talking about, and the divisions of Americans, I really touch on in quite a few of my columns at roll call because I think African Americans do feel a little bit threatened when they see, at the end of these campaigns, so many candidates leaning into fear, using, saying crime as sort of equivalent to the black criminals are gonna come out to get you.

As opposed to looking at the criminals on January 6th, 2021 who were beating up police officers.

And they feel that actually, how people treat one another bear a decency.

These really are important issues to African Americans when they see these voting laws coming that will restrict their voting ability, when they see Governor Ron DeSantis eliminating districts, a majority minority districts that mean less representation, and elect and arresting people, former felons for voting when they didn't even know that they weren't supposed to vote.

This is to put out fear and intimidation.

So this is a big issue, as well as all of the kitchen table issues.

And I do believe that black voters are very nuanced in the sense of, yes, we want not to have crime, but we also want criminal justice reform so that we all are treated well.

- That's right.

- And people aren't treated as perps.

So, I think, yes, we are looking overall at the issues, but we also are worried that in this new divided, it's not new, but in this divided country where people seem more and more at each other's throats, that they will realize that American democracy isn't zero sum.

What some, immigrants aren't here to hurt you.

We aren't here to take what you have.

And they were paying attention.

- Mm-hmm.

Mm-Hmm.

Thank you, Mary.

Steve, she mentioned some of these issues, and so did Grier, that mattered to young people, that mattered to black people.

And inflation, as you mentioned a little bit earlier, it's the economy, stupid.

If we take a look at the economy as that driving factor that kind of, was at the backs of people's minds as they were making their decisions at the poll.

Inflation was absolutely an issue.

And there are a number of factors that the Democrats are saying were behind inflation.

What would you say was really driving inflation up, and could Democrats have done anything about that?

- Well, I mean, I think that whenever you have, the Republican theory is that just too much money coming in the system, and oversupply of money and a lack of goods, and so any economists will tell you, when you have that situation, you'll have inflation.

But let's not forget, we were on the heels of a pandemic.

And this wasn't a Democrat or Republican issue.

So I think it's unfair to just make the Democrats feel like they're responsible for inflation.

The fact of the matter though, is that the president has had things that he has gotten done that could eventually create more jobs and reduced logistics costs for example like the, the ARP plan which is investing billions of dollars in broadband, doing a lot to build the bridges and roads in our country, the Inflation Reduction Act, which would actually help people reduce healthcare costs, cap the price of insulin, $35 for seniors, affordable healthcare for more Americans.

So all of these things are important to counter the inflationary costs that folks are facing, so that they're paying less for healthcare.

Student loan forgiveness, reducing debt for, for kids that are going to school.

For young people, particularly.

But I think Deb, the problem was that there's been so much going on every day from the White House, that they haven't been able, the president, I don't think has done a very good job communicating to the American people, "This is how what I'm doing "is going to help you during these inflationary times."

- That's exactly it.

That's exactly it.

Because even amongst the people who I talked to, they're saying, "Well what did the Biden Administration do for black people?"

And I said, [chuckling] "Well, have you been paying attention?"

- Well he invested 3.7 billion in historic black colleges and universities.

He did put forward the George Floyd Act which didn't pass, right?

- He- - Well it didn't pass, so I guess that's what- - But yeah.

It's gotta be [indistinct].

But the last thing I'll say is that we have to quit assuming black voters are different than any voters.

They're gonna wanna see results for what's helping them in their pocket books.

And of course, concerns about lack of progress in legislation for voting rights, criminal justice.

These kinds of things are gonna be why they are now either not coming out, and that's what they're saying.

So, hopefully that'll change.

- Harold, what are your thoughts on the impact of inflation and the economy, and how voters actually reacted at the polls?

- I think it's important what, what Steve said in here, is that black voters aren't, we're, are not any different than any other voters.

Of course there are some, some specific issues to us, but mostly it's about what's gonna affect our family the most, what's gonna affect us the most, the issues around the economy.

This, price of gas, the price of food, has really, really hit the pockets of black voters, of black people.

Because there's no doubt about it that people that don't have a lot of income, especially discretionary income, are gonna be hit by inflation in ways that are really, really hurtful to them.

So I think that, it's a complex issue because of course, as Mary said, black voters are also thinking about criminal justice reform.

And also we're also thinking about all these other issues.

But I do think it comes down to the economy the most.

I do think that's where most people, most voters in America, and most black American voters are.

That's where our mind is because frankly, a lot of us, a lot of folks wake up and they think about, "All right, where is my next paycheck coming from?"

There a lot of Americans that don't have $400 for an emergency right now.

So that is, ever present on everybody's mind.

- That's real.

And black Americans are Americans.

[chuckling] Have the, have many of the same concerns.

Grier, here in North Carolina, how much of what we've seen you think, so far is a factor of the issues that the voters are thinking about?

- Versus these district lines and political maps.

We always talk about turnout, but political maps have an impact.

- Political maps definitely have an impact.

That's why I think redistricting is so important.

And you know, it was unfortunate that we saw the results we did.

To me, at the North Carolina General Assembly level, we'll see how that impacts maps here in voter turnout.

I do wanna say, I mean, this show is called "Black Issues Forum."

It's important that we talk about black voters and the issues that matter to us.

I think here in North Carolina in particular, again, we're seeing a growing divide between urban and rural areas, especially when it comes to young people, college, and those that maybe didn't choose to attend a four-year traditional college.

And so I think it's very important between voters that are affiliated with the party and not affiliated with the party.

We need to make sure that we're presenting candidates and wide-ranging plans that address any North Carolinian, and with which any North Carolinian can connect.

I think Mary mentioned earlier something that's critical when we talk about elections, and that's fear.

We've seen a lot of intimidation.

We've seen attacks on poll workers.

And I'm so thankful to them here in this state, in particular, for enduring such attacks, and continuing to serve in a democratic way.

I mean, just to shout out some of the groups that are doing that protection work.

You have "Black Voters Matter."

You have La'Meshia Whittington, who's a guest often on this show, of "Advance Carolina", the North Carolina Black Alliance.

And so I think it's very critical that we continue to support one another.

To Harold's point, I would push back a little bit, I guess, in general, to the narrative that black folks, or black voters didn't turn out.

And this wasn't necessarily Harold's point alone.

But black people actually did turn out in historic numbers in this election, especially when it comes to Democratic Party candidates.

You see that in Georgia.

You see that in other places as well in New York that black men and women are actually voting in great numbers.

And so it's not that we don't vote.

It's that we need to continue to prioritize issues that affect young black voters, black voters in general.

And I think, some of this polling, Deborah, this is another conversation, but we need to change the way we do that.

Young people are just not gonna pick up the phone.

We don't have house phones.

So maybe we need to switch some of this polling to TikTok, or Twitter.

I'm not sure.

- Bring it!

- But young people do have a lot of issues and I feel like there are better ways to address them.

I'm looking forward to doing that, and doing my part here in North Carolina.

- Absolutely.

And we have to hear that from you, yourself, because you represent that community and you have regular communication with them.

So that's great advice.

And absolutely, things do have to change.

One thing that I think is clear, is the results of this 2022 midterm election say a lot about the American people, our values and what we find as priorities.

Mary, what do you think it says about the direction that we're going as a nation, and particularly, Trumpism?

- Well, it was very interesting.

I wrote a column at "Roll Call" that said, "You would think that no matter what political party anyone belongs to, that everyone could agree that hitting an 82-year-old man, we mean Paul Pelosi, in the head with a hammer was a bad thing."

Yet, we saw candidates joke about it.

We saw conspiracy theories rise.

And it was interesting in this election that many of those Trump-picked candidates, like Dr. Oz, Dr. Mehmet Oz, in Pennsylvania, not do so well.

In New Hampshire, we saw his backed candidate not do well against incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan.

And so maybe that is a good point, that you do have the Trump base, but he is what?

That 30-some percent popularity.

And I think the Republican Party is, they've been a little fearful about going up against him, but maybe they'll start backing away because there have been recriminations.

And maybe at heart, that American people are decent.

And this nastiness, painting your opponent, not just as someone with whom you disagree, but as bad and evil.

We even see Congresswoman Lauren Boebert in a tough race, after her incendiary rhetoric.

So, I think that's a good point.

I think the other thing that people have to do is get better at making connections of saying, "Look, in North Carolina, you have now a Republican-led Supreme Court.

Abortion rights, voting rights, redistricting, they're up for grabs now."

And this is the connection.

- [Deborah] Very important point.

- Even when you talk about it's the - Yeah, they are, all of these are good.

- Very, and I wanna pull, I have just a few seconds, I wanna get your feedback.

Steve, and Harold.

Trumpism.

Here, gone.

Where is it?

- I'll take a - - Steve.

- I'll take a stab at it.

It wasn't a good night for Donald Trump.

I mean, his strategy of coming into swing states, like Mary said, he didn't do well in Pennsylvania.

Georgia was supposed to be a slam dunk.

Didn't get that.

Arizona, Mark Kelly won the governor.

Kari Lake lost that race in Arizona.

You know, even other offices across the country.

So I think that Trumpism is here, but I don't think it'll be enough for him to get back in the White House.

- [Deborah] Harold?

- I think DeSantis will be the nominee.

- Hmm.

Harold?

- Yeah.

I mean, you look at what happened with Ron DeSantis.

Florida, a state that now has no elected statewide Democrats.

All Republicans.

DeSantis won by 20 points.

20.

- Wow.

- I mean that, I think that - - It says a lot!

- Shows you his strength as a political figure here as well.

- Harold Eustache, Mary C. Curtis, Steve Rao, Greear Webb.

Thank you all so much for joining us.

And we wanna also thank all of you for watching and invite you to engage with us on Twitter, or Instagram, using the hashtag "Black Issues Forum."

You can also find our full episodes on pbsnc.org/blackissuesforum, or listen at any time on Apple iTunes, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.

For "Black Issues Forum," I'm Deborah Holt Noel.

Take care.

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