Identity politics actually won in North Carolina

[hrmjustin]

Zack Ford

The gubernatorial race in North Carolina was close, though not quite as close as originally thought. After weeks of challenges, Gov. Pat McCrory (R) conceded Monday, making him the only incumbent governor who was not reelected in 2016.

McCrory’s unique loss can only be attributed to his opposition to LGBT equality. He lost to Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) by just over 10,000 votes in a year when North Carolina otherwise voted more heavily Republican. Donald Trump (R), who McCrory openly campaigned with, bested Hillary Clinton (D) by about 173,000 votes. Sen. Richard Burr (R) held his seat with 267,000 more votes than challenger Deborah Ross (D). The major thing that differentiated McCrory from the candidates in these other races is that HB2 defined his campaign.

HB2 was the law the North Carolina legislature forced through in just one day back in March that banned cities from protecting LGBT people from discrimination and that specifically bans transgender people from using public facilities that match their gender identities. There was massive outcry and significant economic backlash against the state for passing HB2, with opponents adopting the slogan “#WeAreNotThis” to express their objections.

https://thinkprogress.org/mccrory-concession-north-carolina-identity-politics-92680f6e8883#.o96zyukv7