Karma. (We hear it’s a real female dog.)
Tuesday was not the best of election days for North Carolina (or for the country, for that matter). But it did dish out a healthy dose of karma to some very deserving folks in North Carolina politics.
A good thing for readers of this website is that we’ve been around a long time and we remember stuff. As a matter of fact, we remember back to 2015-16 when a scrappy young attorney from Caldwell County named Destin Hall primaried liberal Republican legislator George Robinson.
Candidate Hall positioned himself as a grassroots, MAGA, Tea Party kind of guy knocking heads with the Raleigh establishment. Speaker Tim Moore led a delegation of legislators to the district to campaign for Robinson and against Hall.
Well, as you now know, Hall won and went to Raleigh. It didn’t take long for Hall to snuggle up to Moore and become part of the problem on Jones Street. All of that populist stuff he talked during his inaugural campaign seemed to just vanish.
Hall became Rules Committee chairman under speaker Timmy, which set Hall up beautifully to succeed Timmy should The Tubby One decide to depart Jones Street for greener pastures.
Well, as you now know, Timmy left Jones Street for Capitol Hill in 2025. Hall moved up to the speaker dais. He married a lobbyist in a ceremony which included a cabal of lobbyists who dominated the wedding party.
Fast-forward to last Tuesday. It appears that the 2027 session will be dominated by Democrats and a Democrat speaker. The speaker Hall era lasted a grand total of ONE term.
The young man from Caldwell County ended up becoming what he campaigned against in 2015-2016. He reached the state’s political mountaintop but it all came crashing down after just one term.
Speaking of The Tubby One — he didn’t enjoy Election Day at all. The conquering hero of Raleigh’s Jones Street successfully landed on Capitol Hill after carving himself a sweet new district. Funny thing though, reelection was not as certain as he thought it might be.
Moore ended up losing reelection in a supposedly safe GOP district he drew for himself to a woman who got served with a criminal warrant at one of her campaign rallies.
And last but not least, let’s look at the GOP leadership on Jones Street. They’ve had a great time in recent years sticking it to the minority Democrats. Taking power from one group or person. Giving it to another. Stripping the governor of a lot of his duties. Loading up Dave Boliek with stuff to do. That kind of thing.
I remember asking a rather-connected fellow on Jones Street: “What happens when THEY retake the majority and you’re the helpless minority?”
The fellow looked at me, laughed and asked: “When is THAT going to happen?”
I’ve heard people talking about how a lot of the seats lost on Tuesday can be “easily” retaken in two years. Many of them were majority-R.
Remember how the current GOP majority called a special redistricting session to *fix* the 1st congressional district and tinker with the 3rd?
What’s to stop the new Democrat majority from revisiting redistricting – congressional AND legislative – shortly after they’re sworn in at the first of the year? Our guys did it.
This 2026 campaign which the NCGOP basically phoned-in could very well end up costing the Grand Ol’ Party a whole lot more than we now realize.
They redrew the district to help Laurie Buckhout win, and she still lost. Now she calls Congressman Greg Murphy a traitor for not helping her.
At some point, you have to stop asking for a new map and start asking why folks keep choosing the other candidate. The GPS can get you to the polling place, Laurie. It cannot make people vote for you.
My advice? Thank your volunteers, congratulate the winner, and take a Facebook vacation. Go enjoy a nice party where the only difficult race is getting to the shrimp before everybody else.
Sometimes the voters aren’t confused. They’ve just made up their minds.
And Jason’s msg yesterday, following the massacre you’ve described above (perfectly and succinctly) was what?
He’s the leadership, ‘for the future’, the ncgop will prevail and actually WIN for a change.
How many LOSSES must we take? At this rate, NC will be as blue as NY and NJ.
Anyone see the southeast map ‘wall’ the dems posted yesterday? From Va to NC, to SC to Ga: ALL BLUE.
Ga is lost. Cannot out vote Atlanta metro any longer. NC same situation, soon? It’s 2028 OR NEVER. Va is lost. SC shows R’s aren’t safe there any longer either. Tx is a shocker, even bigger than others.
We have NO leadership in dc. National gop is putrid. Leadership HAS to begin and come within NC. And, it’s NOT the current crop of leadership at the ncgop.