For all the (deserved!) attention that Texas and Georgia get for their flirtation with flipping blue this election cycle, there’s one southern state that’s even more likely to flip in November.
In fact, you could say North Carolina has already flipped blue — its representatives just need to reflect it. Democrats won a majority of votes statewide in 2018, but thanks to one of the most egregious gerrymanders in the country, Republicans were able to keep control of the state legislature and pass horrible anti-LGBTQ laws; only an end to their supermajority sustained a veto of a terrible anti-choice bill. Fortunately, the state Supreme Court stepped in and mandated some districts be redrawn, resulting in a number of GOP-held districts that now look ready to flip blue.
Democrats need just six seats to take control of the State Assembly, which is quite doable with at least three of them seeming locks to go blue. We’ll look at some of those races later this week, but today I want to focus on one seat that, if flipped, would virtually guarantee Democrats control of the Assembly and a large say in the next redistricting process.
CLICK HERE to donate to Democrats running to flip North Carolina blue!
Updated: I added a video and more info about her campaign!
After a career spent as a teacher and military officer, Marcia Morgan was enjoying a well-deserved retirement near the beach in North Carolina. Then 2016 happened, and like millions of shocked and appalled Americans, she decided that she needed to get off the sidelines and get involved in local politics.
She quickly became a precinct co-chair and saw up-close how many problems were plaguing the state, from low education funding to environmental disasters. Soon, she was running for elected office for the first time in her life — because no one was volunteering, Morgan stepped up to run as the Democratic candidate for House District 19 in the North Carolina State Assembly against an incumbent Republican State Representative who had gone unopposed in the last two elections.
“I was very good at being retired, I had found my passion in life with that, but I felt like [running] is a necessity,” Morgan tells Progressives Everywhere. “I said, ‘I'm not gonna let that happen again. He’s not gonna win this without a fight.’”
Despite having no name recognition, no political experience, and no organization to start, Morgan gave Rep. Ted Davis the closest race of his career, losing by less than 900 votes. Morgan also suspended her campaign for a time after a major hurricane in the fall of 2018, turning the organization into something of a relief operation. She hopes that won’t be necessary this time around, but given her background, I can’t imagine her thinking twice to do so if necessary.
Last fall’s redistricting actually made the 19th district a bit tougher for a Democrat to win, but Rep. Davis is now running in the 20th district, making this an open seat and giving Morgan the name recognition advantage.
It’s hard to fathom coming out of retirement to run two tough campaigns, let alone do the job of a state representative, but public service is in Morgan’s blood. She joined the military late, after already receiving a Ph.D. in education, and rose up to serve on the staff of the Army’s Chief of Staff, a testament to her work ethic and smarts. She traveled the world, picking up new perspectives and insights that would serve her well in Raleigh.
“A lot of the things that I did were things that I would have never thought possible,” Morgan says. “That ranges from living in a Quonset hut on the side of a mountain in Korea to briefing senior military officials. I could go from realizing there's no such thing as a five-second rule when food hits the floor because you don't have much food to dining with a Saudi Prince in his house.”
Her big focuses in the legislature would be what she considers the state’s two mishandled crown jewels: its children and its environment. She points out that North Carolina ranks near the top of the country in GDP but at the very bottom in education spending per pupil, even after massive teacher strikes that forced some reforms in 2018.
In her part of North Carolina, a toxic chemical called GenX, invented by DuPont, has been poisoning local water supplies for the last decade, resulting in a stark divide in children’s nutrition. “The schools in the wealthier districts have Parent-Teacher Association groups that will bring cases of bottled water in so that all the kids have water, but in the poorer schools, they don't have that resource,” Morgan laments.
Should she get elected, Morgan says she will also focus on expanding Medicaid — North Carolina Republicans have blocked that since 2013 — and passing legislation to create nonpartisan redistricting. And more than anything else, she plans on being an actual representative, someone who does right by her community. There’s no other reason for her to be doing this.
“I think that people are eager to have someone who will listen to them and that they can trust,” Morgan explains, “and I think I'm that person.”
CLICK HERE to donate to Marcia Morgan and North Carolina Democrats!
This is an excerpt from Sunday’s Progressives Everywhere newsletter — we publish twice a week for free! For more stories about state politics, progressive activism, great candidates to support on a local level, and crucial updates on policies that matter, subscribe here! Don’t worry, we won’t bombard your inbox!