Monday numbers: A closer look at the counties where unaffiliated voters top Democrats and Republicans – ncpolicywatch.com

This map shows the 17 North Carolina counties in which unaffiliated voters now outnumber registered Republicans and Democrats.

North Carolina marked a major milestone last week. Unaffiliated voters surpassed Democrats and Republicans as North Carolinas largest group of voters.

Independent now make up 34.6% (2,503,997 ) of North Carolinas registered voters. That edges out Democrats at 34.5% (2,496,434) and Republican at 30.3% (2,192,073). Libertarians (48,654) make up 0.7% of the states voters.

Meredith College political science professor David McLennan tells NC Policy Watch that while people might register as unaffiliated, they still can hold strong political leanings.

Really only about 10 percent of the unaffiliated group are true independents, McLennan said. Its also worth saying they dont vote necessarily at the same degree as registered Republicans and Democrats. Theres about a 10 percent drop-off.

McLennan said the drop-off could be the result of a lack of engagement in the election process or frustration with the two parties.

As we see the two parties to some degree move to the extremes, I think a lot of people in the unaffiliated group are just people who consider themselves more moderate, he explained. The real question is what do candidates do to try to get at the true independents, but also the people who arent party regulars. I think you need a different message, and maybe different policy positions to stir-up those unaffiliated voters.

For this weeks Monday numbers column, we take a closer look the 17 counties in North Carolina where unaffiliated voters top Democrats and Republicans. (Numbers are based on State Board of Elections data from March 19, 2022.) To see which party holds the majority in your county, click here and visit the NC State Board of Elections.

1. Buncombe CountyDemocrat 75,307Republican 45,791Unaffiliated 81,668

2. Cabarrus CountyDemocrat 44,089Republican 51,286Unaffiliated 54,195

3. Camden CountyDemocrat 1,485Republican 2,908Unaffiliated 3,433

4. Chatham CountyDemocrat 21,184Republican 14,030Unaffiliated 22,972

5. Dare CountyDemocrat 7,581Republican 10,470Unaffiliated 12,352

6. Haywood CountyDemocrat 13,322Republican 15,769Unaffiliated 16,111

7. Henderson CountyDemocrat 17,528Republican 31,876Unaffiliated 36,836

8. Jackson CountyDemocrat 9,014Republican 8,208Unaffiliated 11,540

9. Lee CountyDemocrat 13,122Republican 11,687Unaffiliated 13,406

10. Madison CountyDemocrat 5,436Republican 4,690Unaffiliated 6,563

11. New Hanover CountyDemocrat 51,218Republican 53,590Unaffiliated 69,097

12. Perquimans CountyDemocrat 3,156Republican 3,330Unaffiliated 3,446

13. Polk CountyDemocrat 3,740Republican 5,955Unaffiliated 6,249

14. Swain CountyDemocrat 3,114Republican 2,972Unaffiliated 3,713

15. Transylvania CountyDemocrat 6,072Republican 8,490Unaffiliated 11,481

16. Wake CountyDemocrat 288,365Republican 179,911Unaffiliated 319,913Libertarian 6,477* (*Wake also holds the distinction have having the largest number of registered Libertarians in the state.)

17. Watauga CountyDemocrat 11,548Republican 12,691Unaffiliated 19,410

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Monday numbers: A closer look at the counties where unaffiliated voters top Democrats and Republicans - ncpolicywatch.com