Middle-aged and senior citizen women with wealthy husbands are truly the kingmakers in the NCGOP. Once they decide to get behind someone, they harangue their husbands and all their church friends into supporting him/her, and it's all over but the shouting.
I do have to agree with the sentiment that the real progress was made at the county and district levels. We now have at least a couple of pairs of eyes on the Central Committee, which is the true power center of the party, and that's never been the case before this year.