Daily Update - February 3, 2026

Republicans gain voters. Independents gain more.

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About Reuel Sample

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026.

With less than a week remaining to register to vote for the 2026 midterm primaries in North Carolina, Democrats have lost 7% of their registrations since the 2022 midterm primaries in a net swing with Republicans of more than 300,000.

Overall in our state, just over 39% of the electorate are registered as independents or unaffiliated, 30.2% are registered with the Grand Old Party, and 30.1% are with the Democrats.

Republicans have every right to crow over the gains in their party’s registrations. At a time when the legacy media is doing everything it can to take down President Trump and the GOP, it is not an insignificant victory. North Carolinians are responding to the madness of the Democrats with their party registration.

But it does not mean that North Carolina has gone solidly red. Gallop found that under the Biden-Harris administration, independent voters tended to lean right in response to the Democrat Disaster that influenced and infected our entire culture. But now Gallup is also reporting that trend among independents has reversed, with more political independents - 47% - leaning left.

There is a reason why this year’s North Carolina Senate race is slated to be one of the most expensive races in our state’s history. The candidate who gets through the primary will not only need to hold their own party, but demonstrate to a very skeptical independent conglomerate why his or her policies bring about practical answers to problems that affect everyone. Just like President Trump’s successful campaign, what will win for Republicans in all races here in North Carolina is not ideological purity, but practical wisdom and solutions. The far right does well in primaries. But time and time again, the far right often cannot make it through the general elections, and on the off chance that they do – demonstrate they are so caught up in being ideologically pure they cannot govern – and end up taking good Republicans down with them.

As we head to the polls next week, will Republicans primary voters keep this in mind?

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.