If North Carolina Democrats want to become a governing party by 2030, we need to face up to harsh history.

In 2016, Democrats had hope. We won back the governor’s office, held onto the attorney general’s office and won a majority on the Supreme Court.

But it’s been downhill in the three elections since – 2018, 2020 and 2022.

We lost ground in the legislature – and lost the votes to sustain Governor Cooper’s vetoes.

We lost two winnable U.S. Senate races.

We lost the state to Trump. Again.

We lost the majority on the Supreme Court.

We lost all but two of eight Council of State seats.

We lost the 2020 lieutenant governor’s race to Mark Robinson.

Losing teams make changes – new quarterbacks, new coaches or new game plans.

Democrats changed the party chair, but that alone can’t solve the problem. This will be a long climb – in 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030.

Bert Bennett, the political wizard behind Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt, used to say, “When you win, everything you did was right. When you lose, everything you did was wrong.”

Democrats need to examine everything.