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One can safely assume that a majority of Scotland County residents are happy with the outcome of this year’s presidential election.

The registered voters in this county went for Barack Obama by almost 58 percent.

If you listen carefully, you might still hear the faint chant: “Obama, Obama, Obama.”

In fact, Scotland voters remained true blue to most of the Democrats up for election. Nearly 75 percent of all registered voters cast ballots for Democrats. Losing incumbent U.S Rep. Larry Kissell got a whopping 64.4 percent of the vote here, while Democratic candidate for governor Walter Dalton got 57.63 percent.

Those results put us at odds with what most of the state did on election night.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes. The state also elected former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory as governor with nearly 55 percent of the vote statewide to become the first Republican to win in 20 years.

And our own District 8 congressional seat has been returned to Republican hands.

Republicans have also regained control of both chambers of the General Assembly. According to unofficial returns, the GOP won at least 28 Senate seats and 62 in the House.

North Carolina voters picked at least nine Republicans to represent the state in the U.S. Congress, electing a 13-member delegation that reversed the current Democratic majority.

Are bringing up the Republican gains to diminish the efforts that Democrats, (many right here in Scotland County) put forward to help Barack Obama win re-election to the White House?

Of course not. But as North Carolina leans to the right, we want this staunchly Democratic county to realize that it may not see many of its issues advanced during the next two or four years.

What we may see instead are attempts to overhaul the tax system, push voter ID laws, implement performance pay for teachers, expand vouchers for private schools and revamp Medicaid and health insurance for the poor.

Following his victory celebration over Kissell on Tuesday, Republican Richard Hudson said that “voters are ready for new, conservative leadership in North Carolina.”

“They are ready for lower spending and fiscal responsibility; they are ready for more, good paying jobs; and they are ready to take our country back for the principles and values that have held us together.”

Scotland County should get ready too.