Trump endorses embattled RNC chairman after GOP shellacking

In North Carolina, the midterm results this week were a dramatic shift to the left, from U.S. House seats to the state House. And at least one newly elected Democrat said a slow and frustrating Hurricane Helene recovery was a contributing factor — a contrast to before the 2024 presidential election. Two Novembers ago, some residents in rural western North Carolina told The Washington Post the promises Donald Trump made about speeding up recovery after the disaster influenced their decision to vote for him.

Last spring, Lynne Russo, a communications consultant from Hendersonville, who had never worked in politics before, toured her district, hard hit by Helene, and spent three months talking to residents about what was making their lives so hard.

Many in the mountain towns were already struggling following the hurricane’s impacts on tourism, roads, and bridges. Throw in high gas and grocery prices, and people were not getting by, she said.

“I ran because of Helene,” she said. “It’s a double whammy of living in a place where there was a hurricane, and living in America right now where it’s not affordable. It’s harder than other places. Most businesses have not rebounded.”

Russo, who sold her condo so she could work 16 hours a day on her state House campaign, said she also had to use her calculator when paying at the grocery store.

On Tuesday, Russo won her district handily.

“We moved 19 points to the left,” she said. “We moved a little mountain over here.”

Other Democratic candidates, such as Mark Burrows, who won his state House election, and Jamie Ager, a fifth-generation farmer, who flipped the toss-up 11th Congressional District, also focused on Helene’s difficult recovery. They talked about investing in roads, bridges, water, power and sewer systems so they could be more robust for the next disaster.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has said it is pulling back from funding resiliency and recovery projects, and that states should be able to handle this work more on their own.

Russo said that “terrifies” her because North Carolina could not handle Helene-like devastation without significant federal assistance.