From President Richard Nixon to the Boone Town Council and from front-cover cartoons to interactive online graphics, The Appalachian has provided election coverage throughout its rich history.
In honor of its 90th anniversary and the upcoming 2024 presidential election, The Appalachian compiled highlights from various decades of the paper’s election coverage. The way The Appalachian reported election results and trends offers glimpses into the past of App State’s political landscape.
One of the first instances where The Appalachian reported election results appeared in a Nov. 6, 1942, edition of the paper. The article, titled “Democrats elect candidates for state-wide win,” reported on multiple North Carolina races.
The report detailed the race for U.S. Senate between incumbent Democrat Josiah William Bailey and Republican Sam J. Morris. The article reported based on “incomplete but representative” results including races where “Five Democratic representatives had no opposition and thus were automatically re-elected.”
The remainder of the article reported on various other Senate and state gubernatorial races.
It was not until the 1960s when political and election content became more consistent in The Appalachian. The decade contained various editorial pieces on elections including a series of letters to the editor by Dale Simmons titled “That’s Politics.”
In the Nov. 1, 1968, edition of The Appalachian, a feature story on the front page covered a visit by a Newsweek columnist predicting Nixon to win the 1968 presidential race.
The article, accompanied with a political cartoon by P. Phillips, presumably depicts the three candidates in the 1968 presidential election. Republican Nixon, Democrat Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace running with the American Independent Party are featured in the cartoon.
The following Nov. 8, 1968, edition features another political cartoon by P. Phillips, announcing Nixon’s nomination as president. This edition did not include the results of races other than president.
As The Appalachian roared into the 1970s, election coverage continued to become increasingly prevalent. The Nov. 10, 1972, edition documents Republican James E. Holshouser, “a Boone native,” winning the North Carolina governor’s race. The article reported a “close” race and said Holshauser’s lieutenant governor is Democrat James Hunt.
“This is the first time in North Carolina’s history that candidates of different parties have been elected to the governor and lieutenant governor positions,” the article reads.
The 1980s marked an increased focus on local electoral results as represented in the Nov. 4, 1982, article titled “Democrats dominate election results” by Jane Keller. Keller covered North Carolina House and Senate local races including Watauga County sheriff, board of education and board of commissioners.
This trend was followed up in the Nov. 8, 1984, “Republicans make strong showing election day” article. Assistant News Editor David Pinaula summarized Ronald Reagan’s defeat of Walter Mondale as well as multiple state races and local Watauga County races.
This edition also featured reactions from local Republican and Democratic groups. Staff Writer Chris Wilkins wrote, “Republicans celebrate victory” and News Editor Kristin C. Copren wrote, “Democrats lament their losses.”
The trend of publishing election results with local party results continued in the Nov. 6, 1986, edition of The Appalachian. This continued in various forms throughout the remainder of The Appalachian’s coverage in the 1980s.
In the 1990s, The Appalachian continued covering local races throughout Watauga County as well as prominent state races representing the area. A Nov. 8, 1990, headline reads “Helms edges out Gantt” in reference to the U.S. Senate races between Jesse A. Helms and Democrat Harvey B. Gantt.
The article, written by Editor-in-Chief Rae Beasley, also included a graphic summarizing results of state and local races including Watauga County sheriff, board of education and board of commissioners.
Graphics became a staple in relaying election results throughout the remainder of the 1990s with a story reporting election results from Nov. 7, 1996, containing an explainer of results accompanied by a graphic including various local races and early results.
Included in these results were referendum movements specific to North Carolina. One movement showed voters favored giving the North Carolina governor veto power.
The report included 4% of precincts and 75% of voters in those precincts voted in favor of granting the governor the right to veto legislation. North Carolina was the last state in the country to adopt the right for the governor to veto.
Throughout the 2000s, The Appalachian continued its trend of election coverage, utilizing visual reporting and taking into account various local political groups views.
In the Nov. 8, 2012, edition, the front page headline of The Appalachian reads “FOUR MORE YEARS” in reference to the reelection of Barack Obama. The issue also highlighted Pat McCrory’s election as the “first GOP governor in state since 1989,” and a political cartoon by Andrew D. Cox.
Nov. 7, 2013, saw a use of colored graphs to represent local election results including races for Boone mayor and Boone Town Council. At the time of publication, Andy Ball won the race for mayor with “almost 60 percent of the votes.”
In the Nov. 3, 2016, edition, candidate guides became a practice in anticipation for Election Day. Candidates from state and local races in a “Behind the Ballot” section were featured with brief summaries of their political careers and affiliations.
These summaries continued in a similar fashion in the years following and were often published before Election Day.
The Appalachian continued regular reporting of midterm and local elections from Nov. 9, 2018, accompanied by graphics representing races in North Carolina and across the country.
Due to a close race, the results of the 2020 election proved elongated for The Appalachian. A Nov. 6, 2020, edition summarized the state of the presidential election in North Carolina.
At the time of printing, the article said “there are still questions as to who will be the next president and when results will be finalized in North Carolina,” former Political Editor Moss Brennan wrote.
The Nov. 13, 2020, edition of The Appalachian featured coverage “in a year like no other.” Former Multimedia Editor Xanayra Marin-Lopez featured student reactions to election results and tabulations which predicted Joe Biden as president.
Down the ballot, Brennan’s analysis reported Watauga County “stayed the course” as he summarized Democratic candidates who won all available county seats aside from the register of deeds which was uncontested.
The Appalachian continued regular reporting of midterm and local election results in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
One especially noteworthy piece of coverage in this time was Dalton George’s election to maintain his seat on the Boone Town Council in 2021. George was appointed to fill a seat vacancy before a municipal vote led to him maintaining his seat, making him the youngest public official in North Carolina at the time.
Throughout its history, The Appalachian’s election reporting serves as a glimpse into the past history of App State and the Boone community. Readers can stay tuned as The Appalachian continues its legacy of reporting on elections in 2024.
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