Matthew Ridenhour: A Meck County board with one-party rule saddens me
Editor’s note: On Election Day, former Mecklenburg County commissioner Matthew Ridenhour, lost his bid to rejoin the county board as its sole Republican member. We asked him to reflect on that loss.
I would like to take a few minutes and share with you some thoughts about losing — a topic upon which I am a subject matter expert.
On Nov. 8, 2022, Democrats once again swept all the seats on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. While my hat is off to all who won, including my opponent Laura Meier, I believe we as a community have lost something.
One-party rule does not spark the discourse around the dais that is so needed for good policy. Granted, the commissioners may not always vote in unison, but one need only watch a few meetings to see that most discussion is mild and affirmative. There is not the spirited discussion that comes from approaching issues from differing political philosophies.
Most Republicans and Democrats agree on the issues facing Mecklenburg County — the need for more green space, a deficit of affordable housing, school performance, etc. Where we differ is in how our political philosophies guide us to solving those issues. The discussion is what produces better policies. That clash of ideas is now lost.
Another thing we have lost is a connection to Raleigh. Much has been written about the sometimes acrimonious Charlotte-Raleigh relationship. However, the fact of the matter is that Republicans control the N.C. General Assembly, and that is not changing anytime soon.
There are times when local government needs support from Raleigh. On the city side, Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari has done a masterful job of creating a positive relationship with the Republicans in the General Assembly, and that has served Charlotte well. Where is such a relationship with Mecklenburg County? There is not one.
As discussions continue around local and regional issues, such as transportation, we may wish we had one.
I think we have lost something of great importance — the ability to see candidates instead of parties. Politics has become a war of attrition, where each side tries to get their team in the majority so they may rule until such a time as the other team takes the majority. There is not much reaching across the aisle.
If you study politics of the last 50 years, you know this has not always been the case. While some may not mourn this state of affairs, especially at the federal level, I do find it sad that it has trickled down to the local level.
We have federalized our local elections. We have all seen the posts on social media, “I am never voting for another Democrat/Republican ever again!” Never? There is not one person of the other party to be supported at any level?
In 2018, the GOP lost the suburbs, both here and nationally. It continued in 2020. There was a lot of hope, including by me, that the economy would push suburban voters back towards the GOP this year. Yet in my south Charlotte race, I lost unaffiliated voters at nearly the exact same 2-1 margin as I did in the 2018 “blue wave” election.
Looking across the Nov. 8 county board races, it did not matter who the GOP ran. A woman, Black woman, hard-campaigner, someone running a nearly invisible campaign — we lost each race by essentially the same margins as we have in every year since 2018. The candidates themselves mattered little. Only the jersey color mattered.
That is what saddens me most about Mecklenburg, and especially for our nation — that so often, we overlook people for party. That we do not value the political discourse. That we have allowed ourselves to believe what we have been told — that the other side (GOP or Democrat) is evil and unworthy of being a part of the political process.
It saddens me, because it does not bode well for the future of our community, nor the nation we wish to leave for our children.