Pro-conservation N.C. legislators did well

The Conservation Council of North Carolina is happy with this year's N.C. General Assembly results. In a note to the media, the group touted the performance of pro-conservation candidates they supported.

"Of the 20 CCNC endorsed N.C. Senate races, 14 were victorious. The N.C. House saw an equally satisfying run with 36 of the 45 endorsed races claiming the win. The successful endorsed candidates also include 17 former recipients of a CCNC Green Tie Award for their achievements and support of conservation efforts."

Said Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for CCNC, said, "We look forward to working with the new leadership in the House and Senate. Our economy needs to move forward while maintaining the strong environmental protections that make North Carolina one of the
best places to live and work. I am confident we can have a strong economy and a sound environment-- one does not need to happen at the expense of the other."

Here's how Mecklenburg County pro-conservation lawmakers did:

In the House:
District 99 -Rodney Moore, D-Meck. - Won
District 100 -Rep. Tricia Cotham, D-Meck. - Won
District 102 -Rep. Becky Carney, D-Meck. - Won
District 103 -Ann Newman, D-Meck. - Lost
District 104 -Rep. Ruth Samuelson, R-Meck. - Won
District 106 -Rep. Martha Alexander, D-Meck. - Won
District 107 -Rep. Kelly Alexander, D-Meck. - Won

In the Senate:
District 37 -Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Meck. - Won
District 40 -Sen. Malcolm Graham, D-Meck. - Won

Bill James is sly, or confused

Mecklenburg County commissioner Bill James is confused. Or he's having some fun. James, a Republican, tallied up the early voting statistics for Mecklenburg County and concluded that "the Ds are winning the turnout war." Shoddy work for an accountant like James, unless he knew what he was doing all along.
First, James' stats (which differ slightly from what we find on the Board of Elections website):
31,627 Democrats have voted.
26,363 Republicans have voted.
12,894 unaffiliateds have voted.
77 Libertarians have voted.
Total votes cast in Mecklenburg in early voting: 70,961.
That's 5,264 more Dems than Repubs, so the Democrats are winning in turnout, James says.
Ah, but in fact those numbers show the exact opposite: that Republicans are winning the turnout war, at least in Mecklenburg. Here's why:
Republicans are 28.5 percent of registered voters in Mecklenburg. But they are 37.2 percent of early voters.
Democrats are 45.7 percent of registered voters, but are 44.6 percent of early voters. (Unaffiliated voters are staying home: they are 25.7 percent of registered voters but only 18.2 percent of early voters.)
So in fact, Republicans are doing better than Democrats at getting their folks out.
We shared all this with James and speculated that he knew this all along. His response: "Yes, you got me."
P.S.: James also says that in early voting the best estimate is that 20 percent of Democrats are voting Republican and 70 percent of unaffiliateds are. If you assume Republicans are voting at least 95 percent Republican, here's what those numbers suggest: That Republicans are winning so far, 57-43.

-- Posted by The Observer editorial board