JUSTICE ANITA EARLS
IN NORTH CAROLINA &
THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH,
ANGRY BLACK VOTERS
DROVE THE 2026 MIDTERMS
By Cash Michaels
An analysis
There was no poor performance finger-pointing towards African-American voters last week. Given the massive Democratic success of the 2026 midterm elections, it became undeniably clear that the black vote, especially here in the South, was key to the “blue tsunami” that enveloped the races and wrested long held legislative power away from Republicans.
According to WRAL-TV, “What North Carolina Republicans didn’t realize until Election Day, party insiders say, was how many Republican voters would stay home and how many unaffiliated voters would break for Democrats.”
Across the country, Americans fed up with the policies of the Trump Administration, and how the Iran war, high tariffs and alleged corruption all contributed to driving up the cost of gasoline, food, and overall quality of living, packed the polls with their protest votes starting with early voting.
Black voters throughout the South were additionally angry about Republican-led Southern states like Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee using the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act last April to redistrict majority Black voting districts out of existence.
“So much of what this administration has done has been to roll back the protections that give us access to the ballot, while simultaneously flooding us with propaganda that tells us that it doesn’t matter,” Nadine Smith, president and CEO of Color of Change, which worked to mobilize voters across the South before the election, told The Guardian. “What you saw was Black voters showing up in the face of an administration that has spent two years attacking our rights, weakening voter protections and redrawing maps specifically to diminish Black political power.”
"Once again, Black voters have proven that we are not bystanders in this country, we are its builders," said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP. "The Trump Administration tried every trick in the book to block voters from the polls, but we showed up and showed out, and we voted. This election's outcomes are not the finish line. They're a reminder that we the people have the power. And keeping that power requires us to vote, hold elected officials accountable, and fight for our freedom."
Here in North Carolina, impressive early voting numbers totaled over 2.8 million ballots, with Democrats leading the balloting with 1,085,328, outpacing Republican voting 738,748 and unaffiliated voting 995,434
Of those final early voting numbers, black voters totaled 599,251 statewide. In terms of North Carolina voter registration, African-American voters are 1,520,489.
Nov. 3rd, 2026 Election Day stats weren’t available at press time.
Those exceptional North Carolina early voting numbers, especially for Black voters who vote primarily Democratic traditionally, yielded extraordinary Election night results.
Among them, commanding victories for former Governor Roy Cooper in his race for the U.S. Senate, and Associate Justice Anita Earls in winning a second eight-year term on the NC Supreme Court.
“It is the honor of my life to be elected to serve another term on the Supreme Court. I am so grateful to everyone who worked so hard to make this victory possible,” Justice Earls said in a statement. “Thank you for your trust, North Carolina!”
In addition, all three incumbent Black North Carolina Democratic Congresspeople - Don Davis in the redrawn Republican-leaning First District, Valerie Foushee in the Fourth District and Alma Adams in the 12th District - were joined by two new Democrats, LaKesha Womack, who defeated first-term Republican and former North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore in Congressional District 14; and Cyril Jefferson, the mayor of High Point, who unseated first-term Republican Rep. Addison McDowell in the Congressional 6th District. Jefferson is the first African-American to represent the Sixth.
Ms. Womack owns a business development firm and is a mentor in Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women: Black in Business program.
As a result of the midterm elections unofficially, whereas Republicans led the North Carolina Congressional delegation 10-4, as of January, Democrats will lead the delegation 10-4.
In the NC House, for the first time in sixteen years, Democrats took back the majority from Republicans, unofficially winning 71 House districts compared to the GOP holding on to just 48.
One district was won by an unaffiliated candidate.
Rep. Robert Reives III of Chatham, currently the house minority leader, is now considered most likely to elected the new North Carolina state House speaker, becoming only the second African-American behind Daniel T. Blue of Wake County to do so.
In the state Senate, there were still elections up in the air at press time that could determine whether Democrats could claim that legislative chamber as well.
There were Black success stories throughout the South as a result of the “blue tsunami,” with former Atlanta Gov. Keisha Lance Bottoms being elected the first African-American woman to be elected governor of Georgia. Many Black activists say despite the midterm Democratic success, the Democratic Party needs to invest more money in the South to get even better results.
“In the cold of winter, people began marching in Eastern North Carolina,” wrote bishop William Barber of Repairers of the Breach. “We saw an historic turnout in the primary, and we put out the invitation for thousands to march.You joined hands with others in your communities and led a thousand
Marches to the polls. Your witness inspired others. Together, we celebrate the largest midterm turnout in US history today.”
-30-
AFTER UNC MADE DEAL,
FEDS ENHANCE PROBE OF
DUKE MED SCHOOL AMIDST
CIVIL RIGHTS ALLEGATIONS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The Trump Administration’s U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services has referred its findings related to allegations of civil rights violations in student admissions at Duke Medical School in Durham to the US Dept. of Justice for further action. Published reports in the Duke University student newspaper, The Chronicle allege that Duke Medical School allegedly did not comply with federal DHHS demands for information after it was alleged that racial proxies were still being used in the admissions process, despite a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing race as a factor in college admissions.
DHHS alleged in a September letter to Duke Medical that Black students admitted to the school statistically had lower MCAT or Medical College Admission Test scores than their White and Asian counterparts. The federal agency also charged that Duke Medical would not produce explanations for the admission discrepancies when asked. As a result, the case has now been referred to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, and Duke Medical has been notified accordingly.
For the school’s part, it claims that it has complied with all official inquiries into its admissions process.
“We are disappointed that despite Duke’s cooperation in answering the Department’s inquiries and submitting information demonstrating its ongoing compliance, [DHHS] has decided to refer the matter,” A Duke Med spokesperson told The News and Observer of Raleigh by email. “As we have said before, Duke is committed to complying with the law in a manner that is consistent with our academic mission.”
This Duke Medical School Justice Dept. investigation comes on the heels of UNC-Chapel, whose admissions policy was also under Trump Administration scrutiny, signing a deal to end whatever probes the federal government had launched into its policies and practices.
-30-
