Strong voter turnout continues as Republicans, Democrats make pitches
CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- As the line snaked around the Herbert C. Young Community Center in Cary Monday afternoon, voters such as Dana Hall were not deterred by the long wait times.
"I went online to the Wake tracker and we actually in Cary have the longest wait. But since I just retired, I thought, 'OK, it's a beautiful day.' I thought I would come down here and just stand in line and vote," said Hall.
Through four days, it's the fourth busiest site in Wake County.
"First time I've seen a line when I've come the early vote. So I was surprised," noted voter Bob Pilz.
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Fellow voter John McKinley added, "I'm happy with the number of people that showed. I think people are very excited about this particular election."
All three voters noted a level of contact from campaigns hoping to win their support.
"I would say every third commercial on TV is about this political campaign. I'm getting texts all the time, typically from the Republican Party asking me how I'm going to vote come the fall. So it's been unique this year," said McKinley.
Pitz added that he "had a couple door-to-door (canvassers), but texts and emails are just incredibly long. I just have hundreds of them every day. I wake up and there's literally 100 texts about the voters."
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Mona Singh was part of a team of volunteers with the Wake County Democratic Party positioned in Cary on Monday to connect with voters.
"We still have the whole slate card. If they don't know all the candidates, we give them the slate card and so they know exactly who to vote for," said Singh.
According to unofficial data posted by Wake County, more than 96,000 residents cast ballots through Sunday. Breaking it down, registered Democrats had a nearly 2-to-1 edge over Republicans, with unaffiliated voters closely trailing Democrats.
Both Democrats and Republicans had a visible presence at the polling location Monday, working to engage voters as they made their way inside.
"It's really just engaging the voter as they come to the polls, making sure that they have their voter guides with them so that they know who the endorsed candidates are. Our volunteers are there to answer any questions that they might have about the process or direct them to candidate information," said Billy Ward, Second Vice Chair of the Wake County Republican Party.
Though voter registration data is available, results will not be until Election Day. Still, there are data points that analysts are tracking closely.
"Four years ago, at this time period, registered Democrats had the edge, but that edge has given way. And so I think this is going to be an interesting week to kind of see who shows up," said Catawba College Political Science Professor Dr. Michael Bitzer, referring to statewide figures.
Republicans have shifted their messaging, emphasizing early voting after years of prioritizing Election Day.
"Early voting is an opportunity for the electorate to make sure their vote is in and counted. Anything can happen. You know, somebody is not feeling well. Something comes up and you're not able to go on Election Day. At least you know you've already voted and you don't have to stress about it," said Ward.
Beyond voter registration, there are other demographics that Bitzer highlighted.
"The really key thing to me is the generational gap. There is a significant overperformance among boomer voters and a very pronounced underperformance of millennials and Gen Z voters," said Bitzer.
A report from Pew Research found that Democrats held a 32-point advantage with voters younger than 30 years old, and an edge with voters younger than 50, while voters 50 and older favored Republicans. It's an age group that Democrats have worked to engage with, including last week at Soar to the Polls, which is labeled a nonpartisan event at NC Central, where Durham Mayor Leo Williams, a Democrat, and North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton attended.
"We've started here earlier than ever before, creating a student engagement program since very early in the summer, hiring early, identifying student leaders early, and sending our top people to talk to these students and meet them where they are early. It's paying dividends," said David Berrios, Campaign Manager of the North Carolina Coordinated Campaign for Harris for President.
The party highlighted nearly 100 paid staff on college campuses and noted it held events this past weekend at NC State, UNC Chapel-Hill, North Carolina A&T, and Johnson C. Smith University.
Another factor is the effects of Hurricane Helene.
"We're seeing a slight lower rate of voters in the 25 (affected) counties, but there's variations within those 25 counties, most notably Buncombe County has had a fairly slow lagged time in comparison to some of the other counties that were included in the designation. I think we'll have to kind of watch and see how that plays out. Do some of these counties catch up? Does Buncombe County get back into seeing regular numbers, if not exceeding numbers over this this week? Four days tells us a little bit, but not a full set of dynamics to really kind of read anything deep into these numbers at this point," said Bitzer.
After a historic first day of in-person, early voting, the State Board of Elections announced more than 1 million votes had been cast through Sunday.
"We want to make sure that the voters are energized to vote for our candidates. We remember what it's like to have President (Donald) Trump as president, what the economy was like, what our national security was like, a lot of other important issues," said Ward.
Berrios, of course, saw things differently.
"I see a rejection, an upcoming rejection of Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican agenda that ultimately wants to take away our freedoms," Berrios said. "And I think North Carolinians are responding and will continue to respond over the coming days."
