Can you tell me what the political atmosphere of Raleigh is? ie:liberal, republican,democrat (Durham: chapel, neighborhoods)

[beachlover4]

Hi,
I was hoping you could give me a general idea as to what the political atmosphere of Raleigh is. I come from Madison,WI where things are VERY liberal.

Thanks much!

[Jenny_B]

The answer is: All of the above. I have nothing to back this up, buy my *feeling* here is that the metro area is more liberal in general than more rural areas. Chapel Hill in particular has a reputation for being more liberal.

[PDXmom]

There are lots of previous threads on this topic. Trying an advanced search if you are interested in reading past posts. When reading these posts keep in mind everyone has their own lense of experience. What is liberal in Raleigh might not be liberal in Madison. We moved from Portland, Or and my hubby always joked that the Portland Republican were like the Raleigh Democrates. It's all relative.

[Francois]

NC is a "purple state", through and through--we went for Obama this year by a sliver (smallest margin he won by) but had been "Red" every election since 1976 previously. At the state level, it's definitely Democratic, but it's a "Southern Democratic", so not what you'd be used to in Madison.

As for the Triangle itself--definitely a progressive area. Raleigh and Cary have more Republicans, but they are more "country-club Republicans" who vote for lower tax and less spending but don't get hyped up about the divisive social issues such as abortion, gay rights, etc. Durham is the "bluest" county in the state, due to a large African-American population. Chapel Hill and especially Carrboro ("The Berkeley of the South") are extremely liberal overall. Carrboro had one of the nation's first openly gay mayors, elected back in 1995.

You will do fine coming from Madison, but you'll find the South overall to be more conservative (both "Big C Conservative" [politically] and "small c conservative" [more reserved and undemonstrative]) than Madison. But, that doesn't mean it's Alabama in the 1950s, as so many from northern states appear to believe. The Triangle is a smart, vibrant area and you'll find all types here, but mostly moderate/tolerant. Not many Bible-thumpers but (outside of the Universities) not too many "march in the streets liberals" either.

[lamishra]

Personally I think it's a pretty mixed bag. You may find pockets of areas which lean more one way than the other (urban versus rural or college area versus suburbs), but overall, I think the triangle area is really pretty mixed. Looking back at the election, NC as a whole was almost split right in half to the point where they had to hand count the final votes days after the election was over. I know that's not necessarily the best indicator of the overall feel of an area, but in my dealing with triangle over more than 30 years, I still find it pretty mixed.

[JimmyO]

I think the big "C" and little "c" conservatism and the differences therein used above is an excellent description. You will definitely find more of both types down here than in Madison, particularly in Wake County.

I'd be willing to bet there are a lot more similarities than differences between Chapel Hill and Madison. College town, big time sports, cool music scene... But booze is not as cheap down here as in Wisconsin, nor does it get anywhere near as cold.

[rnc2mbfl]

I have been to Madison several times and would best describe it as a cross between Raleigh and Chapel Hill. This is true for political temperature and size. While Chapel Hill is much smaller than Madison, Raleigh is much larger.
In rebuttal to Francois, Raleigh is primarily Democratic but Cary and other Wake County suburban cities tend to be more conservative and Republican. This past year's election can be called more of an anomoly than the rule but the state and area specifically are trending more blue as time goes by.
In agreement with Francois, NC and the Triangle specifically aren't overtly politically socially conservative. This is due to the tight control that Democrats have on almost the entire state goverment. Social conservatives don't have much voice at the state level.
If you want to be in more liberal areas, look in the named cities of the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill + Carrboro). All these cities are run by Democrats. For Raleigh in particular since it's a much larger city, stay "in town" (mostly Inside the Beltline or near the University) or "midtown". The further out from the center you go, the more Raleigh's edges feel more like a suburban town than a city.
If you want an area that is more conservative than Madison, your work is a little harder. This is mostly due to what Francois described. If you want social conservative, go to outlying counties or south and east of Raleigh. Garner, Clayton, Wendell, Knightdale come to mind. If you want country club conservatives, look in Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, far North Raleigh or some of the uber-wealthy neighborhoods inside the beltline.
All that said, I don't think that anyone from Madison would come to Raleigh and feel out of place politically or socially. But, you will feel warmer from time to time (especially this time of year).

[Francois]

In rebuttal to Francois, Raleigh is primarily Democratic but Cary and other Wake County suburban cities tend to be more conservative and Republican.

Inside the Beltline Raleigh is more Democratic, but I think OVERALL, the suburbs may slightly outweigh that. I do live in "OTB" Raleigh (and grew up here) so that's my first frame of reference for "Raleigh" but you're right, the old, inner areas are more blue.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by Francois

Inside the Beltline Raleigh is more Democratic, but I think OVERALL, the suburbs may slightly outweigh that. I do live in "OTB" Raleigh (and grew up here) so that's my first frame of reference for "Raleigh" but you're right, the old, inner areas are more blue.

You are correct that ITB is more blue than OTB. However, when taken as a whole (city limits only), Raleigh is and has been a blue city for years. Wake County had traditionally been a "purple" county that leaned slightly red. This is due to the balance of Raleigh being more blue and the burbs being more red. Really, this is no different than a typical American city. The closer to the city center, the more blue the voting patterns. It's important to remember that more than half of the county population of about 850,000 is not in the city limits of Raleigh. Cary alone is 125,000 and Apex, Garner and Wake Forest each have more than 25,000 residents.

In 2004, the presidential election split countywide was 51%/49% with Republicans winning Wake. That year like others, Raleigh voted Democrat with the ITB areas being the bluest. Outlying burbs and unincorporated areas voted more red as did the edges of the city.

In 2008, it was no contest countywide. Obama won by 13%+ points. I imagine that Obama won by much larger margains in the city of Raleigh.

Here's an interesting link that describes Wake County as the "Fairfax" County of NC. Fairfax is the Northern VA county that has typically been demographically similar to Wake in growth. The Electoral Map » Blog Archive » Obama Rolling in Wake County, NC

[joey2000]

I think the replies here mostly sum it up pretty well, from what I can tell, ie mixed...I got more of an impression of generally leaning to somewhat more socially conservative than some here seem to, but again just IMO and it's not "extreme" in either direction.