North Carolina Democrats can't remember being so low in state government after Election Day.
The strings of power that party members nearly always held for more than a century will all be cut now after last week's results.
Republican Pat McCrory's gubernatorial victory broke the Democrats' 20-year winning streak for the Executive Mansion. The GOP expanded majorities in the House and Senate and retained the majority on the Supreme Court.
Democrats also took hits in federal races. North Carolina was the only battleground state where President Barack Obama's campaign lost. And Democrats lost at least three U.S. House seats.
Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker says the party is at a crossroads. He doesn't know if the defeats are just an aberration in a two-party state.
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