How is it that North Carolina has become a toss up / blue state the past few years?

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

33. Here are my observations

I have lived in NC since 1987, with a 5-year interlude in NYC. I have lived in rural NC, urban NC during the college years, and coastal NC since 2007.

1. Migration - the cost of living is exceptionally appealing to people from the northeast (especially NY, NJ, MD, MA) and the weather is mostly good, especially by the ocean (hurricanes are not as frequent as people think) - a NYer or NJer whose humble abode may cost upwards of $400K in NY or NJ will find that the same amount just about buys a mansion down here and there is little to no snow to plow.

2. Education - while rural NC still lags behind, especially at the public school levels K-12, the universities and colleges are excellent. I am lucky enough to have gone to two of the big three in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hell (I mean... Hill). NC State is an excellent facility for engineering, architecture, veterinary, textiles and the sciences. Duke is one of the top universities in the nation. Though its student population is small (about 10,000 or so), its students hail from all states and many foreign countries. Its medical center is one of the best in the nation and, of course, it has Cameron Indoor Stadium, one of the best places to catch college hoops. Yes, there's also that place in Chapel Hill. And don't forget Wake Forest University, Davidson College, all the other UNC schools (UNC-Wilmington excels in a few fields including creative writing and marine biology) and the myriad others.

3. Investment in R&D - way back in the 1970s, a few pioneering NC minds envisioned a high tech corridor between Raleigh and Durham that would be appetizing for start-ups and multinationals alike, dedicated to technology, science, research and pharmaceuticals, bolstered by the excellent universities in the area. Companies like Nortel, IBM, Glaxo, SAS, etc. moved in and now Research Triangle Park is the hotbed of what's new and upcoming.

4. Progress - I've seen a subtle change in the beliefs that North Carolinians hold. While some troglodytes do survive (witness the Marriage Amendment 'For' forces), even native NCers are slowly progressing toward more inclusionary and progressive ideals. Part of this slow change is also due to the death of industries that thrived on lower-skilled and less educated labor such as textiles. As people have had to gain more knowledge to thrive in the new NC, so they have acquired a bit more progressive outlook. Now, this is a slow change, but it has definitely moved forward since my arrival in 1987.

I can't speak for W. Va. though.