Forty-two years ago, Ronald Reagan’s 1984 reelection campaign gave Americans the “Morning in America” ad.

Following the 2026 midterms, plenty of Republicans are experiencing something closer to mourning in America.

North Carolina Republicans, in particular, have a lot to grieve.

At our Omega Wealth Circle event in Nashville, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman from the Tar Heel State.

When I mentioned that I live near Baltimore, he immediately called me a Yankee.

A Yankee!

Maryland’s relationship with the Mason-Dixon Line is complicated. But I wasn’t about to give the man a history lesson.

Besides, he had something else on his mind.

In his view, all those Yankees moving south were responsible for North Carolina’s election results.

And after last week’s Democratic “bluenami,” I wondered whether he might be onto something.

Your Rundown for Friday, November 19, 2026...

The “Bluenami” Heads South

Consider what happened in North Carolina on Nov. 3.

Democrat Roy Cooper beat Republican Michael Whatley for the U.S. Senate seat, 58.8% to 39.0%.

Democrats also flipped the state House, won 24 of the 50 seats in the state Senate and flipped at least five U.S. House seats.

Not exactly the election Republicans had envisioned.

But here’s where my Nashville acquaintance’s theory gets interesting.

According to the Census Bureau, North Carolina added about 477,000 residents from other states between April 2020 and July 2025, after subtracting those who left.

That’s almost half a million people arriving with their families, furniture and, presumably, political opinions.

North Carolina had company. Florida gained about 890,000 net domestic migrants over the same stretch. Texas welcomed about 813,000.

For millions of Americans, the pandemic changed where they wanted to live.

Warmer weather, lower housing costs and different approaches to pandemic restrictions made the Sunbelt especially attractive.

Paradigm’s own James Altucher was part of that movement.

A longtime New Yorker, James decamped for South Florida during the pandemic. He later made his way to Atlanta.

James wasn’t alone. New Yorkers and Californians were heading for the Sunbelt in droves.

But were they bringing their politics along for the ride?

There’s a popular theory that Americans escape high-tax, heavily regulated blue states… only to vote for the same policies in their new home states.

It makes for a compelling story. The evidence is a lot messier.

A study of Florida voter registrations in Political Science Quarterly looked at New York-born newcomers.

Of the more than 6,600 who registered in 2022, 45% signed up as Republicans and just 25% as Democrats.

So much for the idea that every New Yorker arrives as a card-carrying Democrat.

A San Francisco Chronicle analysis of voter data found something similar in Texas.

Californians who moved there between April 2020 and November 2024 had a 17-point Republican registration edge. Donald Trump won Texas by 14.

In other words, some migrants may be reinforcing the politics of their adopted states rather than changing them.

Still, the South is clearly changing.

Take Georgia.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governor’s race, becoming the state’s first Democratic governor since Roy Barnes left office in 2003.

Democrats also flipped the Georgia state House.

Yet Florida, another magnet for pandemic-era migrants, stayed Republican in its U.S. Senate race. Ashley Moody won the special election 50.9% to 48.0%.

Closer than Republicans would have liked, but a hold is a hold.

Same broad migration trend. Different election results.

Which brings us back to my new friend.

He may be right that newcomers are changing North Carolina’s political landscape. With hundreds of thousands of people arriving, how could they not?

Whether those Yankees actually delivered last week’s Democratic victories is another question.

But somewhere in North Carolina, I suspect my Nashville acquaintance is still blaming the Yankees.

Even the ones from Maryland.

Market Rundown for Friday, Nov. 19, 2026

S&P 500 futures are up 0.25% to 7,630.

Oil is down 0.15% to $88.60 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold’s up 0.20% to $3,894.30 per ounce.

And Bitcoin is down 3.15% to $69,150.