If you want to understand why North Carolina’s midterm elections swung so hard to the left this year, you need to start in rural NC. THE story of the 2026 midterm elections is not resurgent Democrats or incompetent Republicans or even Donald Trump. It’s Black Southern voters flexing their muscles. According to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Black voter turnout in these midterms was up a whopping 52% compared to the 2022 midterms.

In a new Billy Ball Explains NC, we look at the rural voter turnout in North Carolina, particular the rural turnout among Black and brown voters. The numbers are astonishing. — Billy Ball Explains NC is a weekly conversation about North Carolina politics, culture, and news, led by ‪‪Cardinal & Pine Senior Newsletter Editor Billy Ball‪.