Why are North Carolina's Senate races so competitive?
The New Republic's Seyward Darby (a Duke grad) noticed the same study that Dome saw and asked Ferrell Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill.
He said the state was "made-to-order for close elections" with 46 percent Democrats, 32 percent Republicans and 23 percent independent.
And, since the 1970s, when North Carolina was still dominated by old-school Southern Democrats, voters of all affiliations have become increasingly moderate. "You've had immigration into the state... professionals, accountants, businesspeople who've swelled the suburbs, free-enterprise folks who vote Republican... but Democrats remained strong among environmentalists, teachers, black voters, some rural [voters], and city voters."
Guillory said Tar Heel voters swing between moderate liberals and moderate conservatives.
