Deeper into Democracy: Voting & Elections in NC Today

What’s on voters’ minds this fall ahead of midterm elections? How are court decisions shaping the state’s political landscape? How are the latest electoral maps influencing contests? Political scientist Christopher A. Cooper will be talking with veteran political reporter Lynn Bonner about what may be shaping North Carolinian’s choices this November in a free public program.

Christopher A. Cooper is Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor and Director of the Public policy Institute at Western Carolina University. In 2013 he was named North Carolina Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He is a regular contributor to the Old North State Politics blog, co-author of The Resilience of Southern Identity: Why the South Still Matters in the Minds of Its People and co-editor of The New Politics of North Carolina, both published by UNC Press.

Lynn Bonner has worked as an Investigative Reporter at NC Policy Watch since October 2020. Prior to that, she worked for 26 years as a reporter at The News & Observer, where she covered the state legislature and politics, and wrote extensively about mental health, state Medicaid policies and spending, and public education.

The Deeper into Democracy series supports NC Democracy: Eleven Elections. This exhibition explores choices and change across 11 state elections between 1776 and 2010, illustrating the twists and turns of who could participate, how voters cast their ballots, and what influenced decisions that continue to shape what democracy means today.