"We're making sure that counties are out knocking doors and making phone calls, trying to educate folks about the March primary," said North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton.
Clayton listed ICE tactics, voter suppression, and Hurricane Helene recovery as three topics generating discussion amongst voters.
"Right now we hear a lot about the uncertainty from the administration. People across the state are begging for a sense of certainty because I think that's what we expect out of politicians in some aspects. (The idea) that government is supposed to be the one stable force, and right now we've got a very unstable government," Clayton shared.
On the Republican side, NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons expressed confidence, noting the number of registered Republicans have surpassed the number of registered Democrats for the first time in state history.
"We've had a previous structural advantage where we turn out our voters at a higher rate than Democrats. So this now gives us a second structural advantage over the Democrats as we go into the general election," said Simmons.
Simmons said they're working to highlight policies on the economy, education and public safety.
"Those continue to be issues that voters in North Carolina resoundingly side with Republicans because we're right on those issues. Those are common sense issues that benefit the families of North Carolina," Simmons explained.
Unaffiliated voters are the largest voting bloc in the state, and can choose to participate in either the Republican or Democratic primary.
North Carolina's voting maps have also led to a high percentage of districts which are projected to be non-competitive in November, part of a national trend.
"Because of gerrymandering and because of the way we draw the districts and to some degree, just the natural distribution of voters, there's just not that many competitive districts within the state. And so who you are choosing in the primary is very likely going to be representing you in the state legislature or in Congress," explained NC State Political Science Professor Dr. Steven Greene.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, the number of competitive Congressional Districts (with a Partisan Voting Index of +/- 5) nationally has dropped from 173 in 1998 to 86 in 2024.
"The truth is partisanship is just the 800-pound gorilla of elections. When you get the primaries, everybody you're voting for is a Democrat or is a Republican, so it's much harder to know who to vote for. You don't have these usual cues. The people who do vote are people who pay more attention to politics. In many cases, people are going to make the effort to learn about candidates. And, of course, the easiest thing is when the candidates are making the efforts and coming to you through advertising, through canvasing, all sorts of things, and that can absolutely make a really big difference because again, people's votes are not locked in by their partisanship in a primary," Green explained.
Metrics aside, Clayton shared the party's strategy in ensuring candidates are running in every State Legislative race.
"Allison Riggs in 2024 won a Supreme Court Justice fight by 734 votes and she would tell you too that that couldn't have happened if we hadn't made sure that there was somebody in every corner of the state talking about Democrats up and down the ballot. (It) really helps when you've got somebody competing for someone's vote everywhere, and that's what we're going to continue to prioritize," Clayton shared.
On the top-of-the-ticket is a Senate race that could ultimately decided the balance of power on Capitol Hill. Senator Thom Tillis is not seeking re-election, with the battle for his seat projected to be one of the most expensive in US history.
"North Carolina continues to be a crucial state for the national political scene, where you'll continue to see the decisions made in Washington, D.C. really crossing over within North Carolina's boundaries," said Simmons.
Further, both Clayton and Simmons discussed the importance of down-ballot races. While Republicans hold a supermajority in the State Senate, they are one seat short in the State House, which has strengthened Governor Josh Stein's veto power.
"(Down-ballot races) are the ones that obviously matter, especially to North Carolinians, at the local level. Those are the issues that matter especially when you're talking about continuing to lower taxes, as we've seen just this past year, where the income tax level continued to decrease under Republican policies," Simmons explained.
Greene said he encourages students to pay closer attention to state politics, discussing concerns with an over-sized focus on national news.
"The reality is we live in an entire media ecosystem that is going to give them the most clickable, the most watchable content. And that's not typically going to be North Carolina," Greene said.
This past weekend, Democrats flipped a Texas State Senate seat in a traditionally Republican district, spurring enthusiasm for the party ahead of November.
"I think that what Democrats across North Carolina have got to do is make sure that we don't get complacent. We want to make sure we fight for every vote and that we talk to every voter because it is one that I think people can be swayed this year more so than other (years)," Clayton shared.
There are several important voting dates and deadlines for you to track ahead of Election Day:
- Feb. 6: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.)
- Feb. 12: In-person early voting begins
- Feb. 17: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.)
- Feb. 28: In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.)
- March 3: Primary Election Day
- March 3: Absentee ballot return deadline (7:30 p.m.)
To learn more about deadlines for overseas citizen and military voters, click here.