Democrats need to step up early voting efforts to match Republican momentum in North Carolina: Analyst

A former political consultant from the Tar Heel State says Democrats need to compete with Republicans in battleground North Carolina to attract more voters before Election Day.

Thomas Mills is the publisher and publisher of PoliticsNC, a website described as “analysis, commentary, and opinion on North Carolina and national politics from the perspective of a 30-year center-left veteran of the campaign field.” He is the founder.

Mills, who worked on the Democratic National Committee's direct mail team in 2004, said there are two issues Democrats need to address immediately to compete in the state: early voting and the African-American vote. identified low rates.

“They (Republicans) seem to be on the right track now. Democrats, on the other hand, need to increase turnout. So what we don't know is how people are voting.” Mills told FOX News Digital. Exclusive interview. “Some Republicans who go to the polls may not actually be voting Republican, so we won't know for sure until the votes are counted.”

Mills said Republicans are voting at “a much higher level than in the past.”

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“The big question is, 'What's driving GOTV voting this season?'” They (Republicans) have historically not focused on early voting in North Carolina, but in fact in 2020 “In 2019, we directed Republicans to vote on Election Day and not vote early,” Mill said. “This year, they've taken a different tack. And they're actively telling Republicans to go vote early.”

Mills said Republicans appear to have a lead in early voting that began Oct. 17, but it remains unclear whether those early votes are representative of new voters until all votes are counted. He added that he did not know the party.

“They have more votes than Democrats at the moment,” he added. “The question is whether voters who were scheduled to vote on Election Day are voting early, or whether there are new voters within that group who are hoping to boost their vote share.”

A large line of voters waits outside an early voting site in Asheville, North Carolina, on October 17, 2024. (Melissa Sue Gerrits)

Early voting gives operatives an opportunity to target voters who vote infrequently, but North Carolina hasn't had a large influx of new voters into its districts this season, Mills said.

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Another key issue that could be “damaging” to Democrats in battleground states is low turnout among black voters, a key Democratic voting base, Mills said.

“Historically, African-Americans have been a pretty major part of the Democratic Party coalition, and they account for about 20% of the overall vote, with roughly 90% voting Democratic. And if I compare What I saw at the time was that early voting from 2020 to 2024 had decreased by about 67,000 votes from 2020 just a few days ago, but only four days after the start of early voting. It's not a disaster at this point, because there are probably over a million African Americans voting.

Mills said African-American voting behavior doesn't seem to have changed, but rather that African-Americans are seeing “lower turnout.”

Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of former president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks at a VFW hall in Beaufort, South Carolina, on February 21, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary)

“If Democrats want to get them to the polls, they need to figure out what that is and start trying to get them to vote,” he said. “They have time to fix the problem, but they need to figure out what the problem is, where the problem is, and increase turnout.”

Hurricane Helen recently tore through the Southeast, impacting several counties ahead of North Carolina as it prepared to begin early voting. Mr Mill said the event would have some impact on turnout, but would not be detrimental to either party.

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“When natural disasters like this happen, I think it's partly due to accessibility, but also because people don't have water, they don't have electricity, or they just leave the area because of the disaster.”Basic “We’re too worried about trying to meet our needs,” he said. “They're not thinking about voting.”