It was the sole issue in the May primary that would be decided before November. North Carolina’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman spurred impressive primary turnout across the state. And, as WHQR’s Rachel Lewis Hilburn reports, the amendment garnered 61 percent.
Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, only seven counties produced majorities opposing the marriage amendment. Most of the counties in the WHQR listening area overwhelmingly supported the amendment – effectively slamming the door shut on gay marriage in the state. But New Hanover County emerged as an outlier with a razor-thin margin. Supporters of the amendment out-voted opponents by less than half a percentage point. Not so in Brunswick, Pender, Columbus, and Robeson Counties – which posted much higher numbers supporting the amendment. Columbus and Robeson were standouts in support of the gay marriage ban – boasting 85 and 86 percent, respectively. The only counties in the state opposing the amendment: Mecklenburg – which includes the city of Charlotte, the Raleigh-Durham area, and two mountain counties.
