Dem
51
GOP
49
Elaine Who? Elaine Marshall. Who is she? North Carolina's Secretary of State. She is running for reelection. Why do Democrats care? To paraphrase Joseph Stalin: "It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes."
Marshall, a Democrat, has been secretary of state for 27 years and has served with five governors, of both parties. She is generally popular and considered an honest administrator. But now that North Carolina is becoming a swing state, Republicans want to replace her with a compliant Republican, while Democrats want to keep her. Her current term ends in January, but both parties are thinking about future elections. In the past, her office wasn't anyone's top priority, but now it is.
The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State is about to make its first-ever investment in North Carolina, and plans an ad buy in the seven-figure range. How come? North Carolina's elections are currently run by an independent Board of Elections, but Republicans hope to change that. In 2023, the General Assembly passed a law putting the BoE under the secretary's authority. If a Republican were to be elected secretary, that could open up all kinds of shenanigans. The law was struck down by the courts, but Republicans have a supermajority in the Assembly, so they could try again. Hence their big push to elect a Republican as SoS and the Democrats' attempt to keep Marshall. (V)