Charlotte is evenly divided between Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal. To wit, Elizabeth Dole carried Mecklenburg County 50-49 against Erskine Bowles. The large black population in the center city and portions of the west and southeast provides the Democrat base, while Republicans are strong in points north and especially south of the center city. West Charlotte is rapidly changing and could quickly swing from leaning Democrat to a battleground. The growing Hispanic and other immigrant populations and the periodic expansion of Charlotte into unorganized portions of Mecklenburg County are major catalysts for the political future of the city.

Republicans in the Charlotte area are making a strong push for minority voters. Besides electing Dan Ramirez, there are now black Republican county commissioners in three surrounding counties.

2004 Election

Old time liberal incumbent Parks Helms anchors the Democrat ticket. He will likely be joined by a couple of Democrat retreads, though just maybe a new face will emerge. Possibilities include ex-commissioner Darrel Williams, who narrowly lost a bid to move up from district to at-large in 2002; former school board chairman Arthur Griffin; and I don't know who else. Both Williams and Griffin are black, and historically black Democrats lose when running county-wide: black Democrats will vote for white Democrats (such as Helms), but many white Democrats do not return the favor.

For the Republicans, Vice Chairman Dan Ramirez will be seeking re-election. 5th District commissioner Ruth Samuelson will likely run at-large for the first time. That leaves one more Republican slot, with three announced contenders: Lewis Guignard, Andy Dulin, and Larry Bumgarner. Guignard is a board member of the non-profit government watchdog Citizens for Effective Government; he placed a distant 7th running as a Libertarian in 2002, and has since change his registration to Republican. Dulin is a 44-year-old real estate broker, lifelong county resident and political newcomer from south Charlotte. Bumgarner lost his race for school board in 2003.

If Samuelson runs, either Dulin or Guignard will emerge from the GOP primary to complement Ruth and Dan Ramirez. Guignard starts with better name recognition and a reputation as a respected good government, small government advocate. Dulin may have more establishment support and has a longer history of Republican Party activity. It would take a GOP wave to sweep all three at-large seats, as Parks Helms just keeps hanging in there. But with a strong, unified ticket it's a possibility.

2003 Election

Democrats retained their 7-4 edge on the city council thanks to at-large wins by incumbent Patrick Cannon and former city councilor (she quit) and former school board member (she quit that too) Susan Burgess. Republican incumbent Pat Mumford and longtime school board member John Lassiter won the other two at-large seats. GOP incumbent Lynn Wheeler was tossed aside in the primary like so much . . . tossed aside stuff, thanks to her routine betrayal of conservative principles. Newcomer and McCrory protege Fran Perez came just shy of taking the 4th at-large seat; Perez will likely be back to try again.

The major shift was in the election for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board, where Republican Kaye McGarry ran a textbook campaign with strong suburban support and led all vote-getters in the at-large race. Also elected were Democrat "Coach" Joe White and independent Kit Cramer, a Chamber of Commerce somebody. Chairman Wilhelmenia Rembert, a liberal Democrat, was punished for the school board's miserable performance over the last few years by being defeated in her bid for re-election. Also defeated in his at-large bid was George Dunlap, a district school board rep; he will keep his district seat until it comes up in 2005.

Dan Ramirez, pictured above with President George W. Bush, is a Columbian-born immigrant who has lived in Charlotte for 30 years, raising a family and running a successful engineering firm. In 2002 Ramirez became the first Hispanic elected to political office in Charlotte history on the strength of a strong anti-tax vote and support from local Republican officials, including three current and former Charlotte mayors, and, as you see, President Bush. Ramirez is a possible future candidate for Rep. Sue Myrick's seat in Congress, though he may prefer to stay closer to home to continue running his business.

Mayor McCrory is a Republican whose term is up in 2003. He has not indicated whether he will run again. He is rumored to be considering a run for governor, as there is no clear front-runner as yet. He lives in Republican Rep. Sue Myrick's Congressional district so he would have to wait until she retires to run there, and frankly I'm not sure he'd be the best candidate for the conservative district. McCrory is pictured above with Bill Gates, one of the few people who make McCrory look cool by comparison -- and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

McCrory has been criticized for spinelessness, especially in dealing with the NBA regarding the proposals to build a stadium for an NBA tenant. It should be noted that the city did refuse to build an arena for the detested owners of the Hornets (who really put the 'harlot' in 'Charlotte' and the 'Ho' in 'Hornets') and is building one for a new team instead.

And there was one episode that went a long way to convincing me Pat is for real: the mayors in the Charlotte area form a commission to deal with regional transportation issues. One persistent proposal has been to put light rail along Charlotte's SE corridor. The idea has long been rejected as unsound, but the rest of the commission, with McCrory the lone dissenting vote, agreed to pay for yet another study of the project, one which will never be undertaken. After the vote, cameras caught McCrory looking sullen and dispirited as me muttered into his microphone "This [plan] is a joke." I 'bout lost it when I saw that clip on the news!

Mayor Pro-Tem Patrick Cannon and a host of other Democrats are ready and waiting to run for mayor -- but they don't have the balls to take on a popular incumbent like McCrory.

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US Rep. Sue Myrick, R-Charlotte

Sue Myrick is a great congresswoman. She's articulate, conservative, pragmatic, and effective. She's also my US Representative in North Carolina's 9th District and I'm justifiably proud. Rep. Myrick , who sits on the House Rules committee and is the GOP Study Committee Chair, was instrumental in changing rules relating to how sub-committee chairs are selected, which will make it easier to hold down spending appropriations at the committee level and keep the liberals at bay.

At-large, with 2001 vote:

At-large, with 1999 vote:

Robert Freeman was re-elected to the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners in 2002; he served as Chairman before re-election and may do so again. Freeman is 50 years old (I think), has attended at least one pro-life event, and is an ally of conservative Rep. Robin Hayes -- the two are pictured together above. Freeman is in Hayes' congressional district and would be a strong candidate to replace him should Hayes retire soon.

Marvin Norman was elected for the first time in 2002 as county commissioner in heavily Republican Iredell County. Norman is considered a fiscal moderate; he is a 52-year-old grandfather employed by Energy United, "North Carolina's largest electic cooperative".

Pearl Burris Floyd won election to the Gaston County Board of Commissioners in 2002 after previously being appointed to the post. She switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican in 2001 and has been embraced by North Carolina Republicans, including Sen. Jesse Helms. Floyd is 46 years old with strong people skills and a bright political future. While she lives in a safe Republican congressional district, the 9th, currently represented by Sue Myrick, competition for the seat when Myrick retires will be fierce; elsewhere on this page I have already mentioned Mecklenburg County Commissioner Dan Ramirez, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, and now I will mention Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James as possible nominees when Rep. Myrick retire. With the federal picture crowded, Floyd is mentioned as a candidate for state government.

At-large, with 2002 vote: