Op-Ed: Will the Wake County Democratic Party Leadership Again Divide Democratic Voters? - David Knight

The following appeared in the Indy Week on 8/15/24.

Raleigh - Will the Wake County Democratic Party (WCDP) leadership again endorse Democratic candidates over other Democratic candidates for Raleigh City Council like it did in 2022? 

Raleigh City Council seats are nonpartisan, meaning there is no political party affiliation beside the candidate’s name on the ballot. Until 2022, these seats were up every two years in traditionally nonpartisan odd-year election cycles. Raleigh city councilors have historically dealt with nonpartisan policy issues, not partisan politics.

In 2022, party leadership chose to endorse two Democratic challengers who were first-time candidates who’d never run for elected office, much less held one. They chose these candidates over their incumbent Democratic opponents—the female mayor, who had been on council for 10 years prior to running for mayor, and an African-American councilor who had been on council for eight years. Which candidates do you think were objectively and relatively more qualified and competent?

Unfortunately, this decision to take time and effort to endorse in nonpartisan Raleigh City Council races doesn’t just impact local politics. A major concern to Democratic candidates who represent Wake County in higher offices, such as the NC General Assembly and the U.S. Congress, is that the WCDP leadership will again focus on the nonpartisan Raleigh City Council races and neglect Democratic candidates in partisan races at the top of the ticket like it did in 2022. They are not the only ones concerned, as many Raleigh community and business leaders feel the same way. 

The WCDP had a low voter turnout in 2022 during an important election year when an open U.S. Senate seat was in question. Low turnout by Democrats in Wake County was blamed as one of the main reasons for Justice Cheri Beasley losing the U.S. Senate race that year.*