Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, North Carolina

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how North Carolina performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

North Carolina Governor

From 1992 to 2013, North Carolina had Democratic governors in office for 20 years while there were Republican governors in office the two years, including the final year (2013). North Carolina is one of seven states that were run by a Democratic governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. North Carolina was under a Republican trifecta for the final year of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

North Carolina Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the North Carolina State Senate for the first 19 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last three years. The North Carolina State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013. The final three years of the study depicted a shift in the North Carolina senate with the final year being a Republican trifecta.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

North Carolina House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the North Carolina State House of Representatives for 15 years while the Republicans were the majority for seven years. The final three years of the study depicted a shift from Democratic to Republican control in the North Carolina House with the final year being a Republican trifecta.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of North Carolina, the North Carolina State Senate and the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were five partisan control changes in North Carolina during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting North Carolina slightly higher than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

North Carolina’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 30.43, which puts it at 31 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that North Carolina had the highest ranking was 2011, in which it ranked 11th.
• The year that North Carolina had the lowest ranking was 2003, in which it ranked 41st.
• The index type that North Carolina had the highest ranking in was S&P Credit Rating, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that North Carolina had the lowest ranking in was Graduation Rate, in which it ranked 41st.

North Carolina SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	23	19	27
America's Health Rankings	37	41	32	33	37	37	35	38	38	39	39	39	40	37	35	37	37	37	35	35	33
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	15	13	12	12	12	11	10	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5	3	4	3	2	2	2	3
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5	6	9	4	3	4
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3	3	4	5	3	3	4
Govt. Employment Share Population	21	22	22	23	22	22	24	25	23	22	22	20	23	23	23	22	23	23	20	20	22
Graduation Rate	40	39	40	41	41	37	41	40	42	40	43	42	41	40	40	38	39	37	42	36	35
Personal Income Per Capita	31	30	30	29	29	28	30	29	30	31	34	37	35	34	34	36	37	35	36	37	38
Poverty Rate	36	31	33	32	30	23	36	39	36	32	41	44	40	34	38	46	35	43	43	31	N/A
Real GDP per capita	24	24	21	24	27	21	21	20	20	19	21	24	25	23	23	25	27	27	26	26	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
State Govt. Spending/GDP	12	11	14	15	15	15	17	15	18	18	16	17	18	19	12	14	13	12	12	12	N/A
State & local tax burden	30	29	30	30	25	27	29	29	28	32	32	30	30	33	34	36	37	35	34	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	17
Unemployment Rate	15	12	9	12	14	12	13	14	22	46	45	42	34	35	34	38	36	44	44	43	46
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3	6	4	N/A
Voter Turnout	46	48	48	43	43	38	38	37	37	31	31	38	38	47	47	22	22	37	37	11	11
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38	32	36	30	35

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the North Carolina state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During the years of the study, North Carolina experienced many years under a Democratic trifecta, from 1993-1994 and from 1999-2010. In 2013, however, this trend switched, and the state experienced a Republican trifecta instead. North Carolina's SQLI rating was in the 30s for most of the years of the study, with its lowest ranking in 2003, finishing 41st. However, in more recent years of the study, the state's ranking improved. Its highest ranking was 11th in 2011 during a divided government.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 30.08
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with divided government: 30.89

Chart displaying the partisanship of North Carolina government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of North Carolina
• North Carolina State Senate
• North Carolina House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs