General Discussion

and, of course North Carolina is not the only state with senators, not that it would matter because Democrats are in the minority anyway.

Having at least one Democratic senator in a state matters for federal district court nominations because the senate still use blue slips for district court confirmations. We have no senators in North Carolina so the blue slip "veto" is unavailable to us. Why do you think Trump's district court nominations have only happened in states with two Republican senators? If Trump does nominate a person to a district court in a state with a Democratic senator, it will be with the cooperation of the Democratic senator. If you're in the minority, this "tradition" is only power you have.