Charlotte’s blue wave tells a national story on Donald Trump | Opinion

The TVs at Selwyn Pub were split between basketball and election returns, but the mood wasn’t split at all.

This Myers Park bar has been the traditional place where Republican candidates go to watch the results come in. Over the years, it’s seen a lot of wins — none bigger than Pat McCrory’s record seven victories for mayor. But there were no wins to be found last night.

I sat next to the former mayor and former governor as the numbers finally started to roll in. Within a few minutes, the results were apparent to the shell-shocked crowd. McCrory leaned in to the computer screen, shook his head and said, “This city’s changed a lot.”

In the 2025 elections, Charlotte was the crest of a blue wave that hit across North Carolina and around the country. The only explanation appears to be a reaction to President Donald Trump, with suburban voters sending a clear “no” that washed straight through a municipal ballot.

Off-year elections traditionally are low-turnout affairs that focus heavily on hyper local issues. Even as the city has gotten more blue, races like this still offered Republicans a chance if they run a good campaign.

Not this year. Last night, a poll volunteer told me she’d spent the day asking people why they came out. A few mentioned the transit tax. Mostly, it was national politics.

Over and over, the answer was something to the effect of: “I’m angry. And this is the only thing I can do right now.”

The national becomes local

That’s the story of last night. Charlotte’s elections are fully nationalized, and the partisan label matters more than ever.

That message was received most clearly in the Charlotte City Council’s south-central District 6, one of the city’s last Republican strongholds. It’s been in GOP hands for years, but Democrat Kimberly Owens beat Krista Bokhari in a 56–43 thumping that would’ve sounded impossible in south Charlotte a decade ago.

Republican Edwin Peacock III, the last of his party to win an at-large seat way back in 2009, was steamrolled by the four Democratic incumbents.

Even the officially nonpartisan school board followed the tide as voters dismissed incumbents and ousted the board’s last Republican voice.

The same story all over

The pattern didn’t stop at the city limits sign. In Wilmington, two Republican council members won’t return after one bowed out and another lost. In Cary — nonpartisan on paper, partisan in practice — Democrats swept all three races, flipping a seat that had been a reliable home for a longtime Republican.

And nationally, Democrats won the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey. Well-educated suburbs that once split tickets are now voting in straight lines.

Early reads and exit polls framed it bluntly: this was an early referendum on Trump’s second term, and suburban disapproval was decisive.

Trends have been moving in this direction since 2018, but this is the moment when national identity swallowed local politics whole. For years, we’ve told ourselves that city elections are about potholes and parks and transparency — and they are, in the governing.

But last night, voters in and around Charlotte used local levers to make a national statement. That’s why District 6 fell. That’s why the school board lost its last Republican voice.

So where does that leave Charlotte? In practical terms, at the start of one-party rule. While the new City Council is technically 10–1 Democrat, the one Republican — Ed Driggs — ran unopposed and has been protected by his relationship with Mayor Vi Lyles. Since Driggs tends to go along with Lyles, there’s functionally no longer a conservative voice of accountability at the dais.

That’s a risk in any city, and the repercussions tend to come quickly.

“The voters of Charlotte might just get what they asked for, and it is not good,” Bokhari said in a brief concession speech at Selwyn Pub. “The voters of Charlotte completely voted in this election based on national politics, and that was a big mistake.”

Contributing columnist Andrew Dunn is the publisher of the Longleaf Politics newsletter, which offers thoughtful analysis of North Carolina politics and policy from a conservative perspective. He can be reached at andrew@longleafpol.com.

Correction: An earlier version of this column was incorrect about the number of members on the Charlotte City Council and the year the last Republican won an at-large seat.

This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 10:16 AM.