North Carolina GOP focusing on 'hand-to-hand political combat' to ramp up ground game in battleground state

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Republicans are taking both a data-driven and hand-to-hand approach to target key voters in the battleground state whose electoral votes are historically decided by just a small fraction of people.

Republicans won North Carolina in the past three presidential elections, but the results have consistently come down to just a couple of thousand votes, with former President Trump winning by about 4% in 2016 and 1% in 2020. The last Democrat to win the state, former President Obama in 2008, won by less than 14,000 votes.

As Republicans ramp up their get out the vote efforts this cycle, leaders at the forefront of the movement told Fox News Digital that they are focusing their resources on encouraging early voting and delivering their message to the key 1% to 2% that could swing the election for either party.

Jason Simmons, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, told Fox News Digital that there has been an "overwhelming" response to their knocking on doors and grassroots activism.

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"We've been very engaged with all of our grassroots activists and have a very enthusiastic response. People are fired up. As I travel from one end of the state to the next, you see our Trump captains really engaging with the voters of North Carolina, taking the message of why it's important in this year to go out more so than ever," Simmons told Fox. "They're out there every day knocking [on] doors, making phone calls, talking to the voters of North Carolina about the issues that matter most."

Republicans in the state are also using data to help turn out the vote for residents who haven't been engaged in voting in past elections.

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"It's really drilling down into the data and identifying those voters that we know will vote our way, especially the low- to mid-propensity voters, by getting in front of them and talking to them about those issues that matter most to them and then encouraging them to make that plan and to go vote," Simmons said.

After speaking with voters across the state, Simmons said the economy, inflation and the southern border are the issues of top concern among North Carolina voters. 

Republicans are also investing in encouraging early voting this cycle, and according to Dallas Woodhouse, state director for a conservative training outfit, American Majority, the data reveals that more early voting would benefit the GOP in 2024.

"We have field teams out right now educating conservative voters about the importance of actually voting early, voting by mail in North Carolina, how it is safe to vote by mail. We're trying to turn around some of the trends that were difficult for conservatives in 2020 and 2022," Woodhouse said. "What we know is that the earlier you get the vote in, the more efficient it is for candidates, for parties. And if you wait till the last minute, you are at risk of illness and bad weather and your cost per vote goes way out."

Woodhouse said that by Election Day, America Majority expects to have knocked on half a million doors in the state, reached a million voters by phone and a million and a half voters through text messages.

"All you can do is go out and fight every day, go out, push the message of free markets, limited government, strong national defense, and get people out to vote what they do from theirs up to them."

Woodhouse added that the presidential race in North Carolina is going to be "razor-close to the end."

"The fact is, North Carolina is razor-close. … So, voter by voter or house by house, that's what you're into: hand-to-hand political combat to get every single voter to the polls."

Mark Robinson, North Carolina's lieutenant governor and the Republican gubernatorial candidate, recently came under fire after CNN published a report alleging that Robinson had previously made salacious comments, such as referring to himself as a "Black Nazi" on pornographic websites in the late 2000s. Just days later, his campaign released a statement that staff in various senior roles had stepped down. 

"It's very unfortunate, and it's disturbing, troubling, the remarks that we've seen and the allegations attributed to Mark Robinson," Simmons told Fox of the recent controversy. "But ultimately, it's up to him to go and talk to the voters of North Carolina and show them that these are not his words, his values. And we'll continue to talk to the voters of North Carolina about those issues that matter most to them."

Both Trump and his Democrat opponent, Vice President Harris, have been campaigning throughout the Old North State with just weeks left until the highly anticipated presidential contest on Nov. 5.