The word "Due" read from top-down and "South" left-right, with the U shared between them. Reminiscent of a compass.

Due South

A politics hour: NC's shifting party affiliations, Southern migration and 'Partisan Places,' and Mecklenburg's sales tax proposal

By Jeff Tiberii,

Leoneda Inge, Cole del Charco, Rachel McCarthy

Published October 30, 2025 at 1:16 PM EDT

File photo of a voter exiting the Wayne County Public Library after casting their ballot during early voting in Goldsboro on Friday, October 21, 2022.

0:01:00

Party affiliation in North Carolina continues to shift away from Democrats

Across the past few decades there has been a major reduction in the number of registered Democrats in our state. Political scientist Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University talks to Jeff Tiberii about his recent article in The Assembly “Democrats Are Losing Members in N.C. But Are the Republicans Gaining?”

Christopher A. Cooper, Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor and Director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy, Western Carolina University

0:13:00

Can a theory about Southern politics help explain American politics?

North Carolina State University professor Irwin Morris talks about his new book, Partisan Places: Movers and Stayers Across America.

Irwin Morris, William T. Kretzer Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Executive Director of the School of Public and International Affairs, North Carolina State University

0:33:00

Why Mecklenburg County leaders now love the sales tax

Municipal officials have an array of options for raising money to fund city and county projects. Property tax increases. Bond referendums. And, the sales tax. Longtime Charlotte Observer reporter Jim Morrill digs into why Mecklenburg County officials have been favoring the sales tax in recent decades.

Jim Morrill, was a reporter at The Charlotte Observer for almost 40 years, and wrote the new story “Why Politicians Learned to Love the Sales Tax” for The Assembly

Due South

Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.

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Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

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Cole del Charco

Cole del Charco is an audio producer and writer based in Durham. He's made stories for public radio's All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Marketplace. Before joining Due South, he spent time as a freelance journalist, an education and daily news reporter for WUNC, and a podcast producer for WFAE in Charlotte.

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Rachel McCarthy

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

See stories by Rachel McCarthy