Overall, a mixed message in the elections

The first sign of trouble for Democrats occurred in August when 600 people showed up outside the Raleigh office of Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Miller demanding a meeting on health care.

Republican voters, who had more or less been in shock since the election of Democrat Barack Obama a year ago, had snapped out of it.

The results were evident last week, when Republicans scored major victories here and across the nation. Nationally, the GOP picked up victories in the races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey.

There were also signs of a revived GOP closer to home.

In Greensboro, a 70-year-old CPA who had never run for office before, Bill Knight, defeated incumbent Mayor Yvonne Johnson, the city's first African-American mayor. Knight, a Republican, had promised voters more austere government. In Kinston, voters elected B.J. Murphy as the city's first Republican mayor in 130 years.

In Wake County, a new majority was elected to the school board with Republican Party backing. The new majority campaigned for neighborhood schools and the end of busing for school diversity.

State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said he believed the Republican Party was riding a wave similar to the lead-up to the Gingrich revolution in 1994, which saw the GOP take control of Congress in Washington and the state House in Raleigh.

The early read is that Republican voters turned out in significant numbers, while many first-time Obama voters did not return to the polls a year later. Polling suggests that some independents who voted for Obama are swinging back to Republicans because of continued worries about a faltering economy, concerns about Democratic plans to overhaul health care, and Obama's spending proposals.

On the other hand

But it is also possible to draw too many conclusions from last week's elections.

In Charlotte, Anthony Foxx, a 38-year-old city councilman and attorney, became the first Democrat elected mayor of North Carolina's largest city since the 1980s. Foxx is also the first African-American mayor of Charlotte since Democrat Harvey Gantt, who twice ran against Republican U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms in the 1990s.

The man who would be the next Helms, Carl Mumpower, a former GOP congressional candidate, lost his Asheville City Council seat.

Republicans chose not to even challenge Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, a Democrat.

In the Triangle, Democrats such as Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Durham Mayor Bill Bell skated to re-election. In Chapel Hill, City Councilman Mark Klein schmidt, a liberal activist, fought off challengers from the business community to win election as mayor.

Tuesday was a better day to be a Republican than a Democrat. Even so, voters delivered a mixed message.

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