Under the Dome: Split-ticket misinformation spreads; Morrow seeks Trump administration role

Good morning and welcome to the Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Emily Vespa.

For the third straight presidential election, North Carolina voters split their ticket, electing Republican Donald Trump for president and Democrat Josh Stein for governor. Social media conspiracy theorists from both sides of the aisle have suggested it’s a sign of election fraud.

In truth, “ticket splitting is part of the state’s political DNA,” Michael Bitzer, professor and politics department chair at Catawba College, said on X. In eight of the past 15 presidential and gubernatorial elections, North Carolinians elected candidates of dueling political parties for the top seats.

Republicans lost five of the 10 Council of State races to Democrats, in part because Democrats dumped money into ads that tied GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson to his party’s down-ballot candidates, Danielle Battaglia reports. Robinson was already controversial, but his campaign became embroiled in scandal after a September CNN report linked him to lewd and racist comments he allegedly made on a porn website, which he denied.

For more on how North Carolina’s ticket split compares to the previous presidential election, see this data analysis by David Raynor.

MORROW EYES ROLE IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Having lost the race for North Carolina’s superintendent of public instruction last week, Republican Michele Morrow has her sights set on a role in the Trump administration.

Morrow, a staunch Trump supporter, was suggested to fill a position in the U.S. Department of Education on a website created by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., though there’s no indication Trump is using the list to make nominations, T. Keung Hui reports.

Morrow posted the link to her social media pages Monday and urged people to vote for her to be selected for a position.

“Let’s help get Michele to Washington where she can fight to save our children in North Carolina and beyond!” Morrow’s campaign wrote on X.

HELENE MISINFORMATION HAS SLOWED, BUT HASN’T STOPPED

The volume of Hurricane Helene misinformation has seemed to drop from its peak last month, but there’s still some circulating. One X user claimed Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is acquiring land in Western North Carolina. The post has garnered nearly half a million views.

This claim harkens back to previous allegations that FEMA was seizing land or property in impacted areas, which The News & Observer previously reported is false.

The post references the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is funded by FEMA but managed by the state.

The program’s purpose is to fund solutions that minimize the impact of future disasters, like raising homes in areas prone to flooding. In some cases, the grant can fund a buyout of properties in areas at risk of flooding or landslides. Interested property owners can must apply for a buyout, which is voluntary, and they can change their mind at any time before it’s finalized, the North Carolina Emergency Management website says.

WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON

• If you voted in North Carolina and want to be sure your vote counted, Renee Umsted has the details on how to check.

• The North Carolina attorney general’s office and UNC-Chapel Hill police are investigating anonymous, racist text messages that appear to target Black people, including some UNC students, reports Korie Dean. Federal agencies are also investigating the texts, which have been sent to people nationwide after Election Day and tell recipients they “have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.” Greensboro’s WFMY reports that students at North Carolina A&T State University were among those who reported receiving racist text messages referencing slavery. In response, the university planned to hold a town hall Monday for students to express their feelings about the texts with leaders from its counseling center.

Today’s newsletter was by Emily Vespa. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol.

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This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM.