Axios Charlotte: “By the numbers: Bitzer, a Catawba professor who runs the Old North State Politics site, says that while most people are focused on the overall number of defections (20,218 Republicans have gone unaffiliated vs. 9,595 for Democrats), he’s most interested in where they’re coming from.
- 31% are from suburban counties like Cabarrus and Gaston and others just outside main urban counties.
- 28% are from urban suburbs (ex. Cornelius, Huntersville).
- 27% are from cities.
- Just 14% are from rural counties.
What he’s saying: “If you look at the grand scheme of things, 20,000 is 1% (of the overall statewide GOP voter base). So it’s a drop in the ocean, or a drop in Lake Norman,” Bitzer says. “The Republican Party’s core base in this is within suburban North Carolina. That’s where they grew back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.””