North Carolina 2026 Plan

Balance of Power: Notes

• U.S. House: With partisan gerrymandering upheld by the courts in 2023, the state’s congressional delegation shifted from 7-7 to a 10-4 Republican majority after 2024. In 2026, as a result of redistricting in 2025, Republicans are expected to gain one seat.
• U.S. Senate: With GOP incumbent Senator Thom Tillis retiring, North Carolina will have an open-seat U.S. Senate race for the first time in 24 years.

Organizing Ecosystem

North Carolina has a strong civic and voter engagement infrastructure that has grown dramatically over the last decade, with MVP’s partners influencing federal, state, and local elections, including helping secure a state Supreme Court seat in 2025 and primary victories in 2026. 

In addition to scaling their voter mobilization programs to knock 4.8 million doors in 2024 — up from 1 million in 2020 — MVP’s North Carolina partners also have strong base-building programs with chapters across the state, including in rural areas and across multiracial, working-class communities who are developing and leading their own community-based campaigns to build long-term power.

Strategy #1

Mobilize key voters: Turn out Black, Latine, and AAPI voters in support of Democrats statewide and down-ballot.

In North Carolina, people of color make up a sizable demographic, with Latine and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations growing at the fastest rates. These communities represent voting blocs that are likely to turn out for Democrats if they are engaged early, by the right messengers, and with effective, culturally-competent strategies. 

MVP partners will focus on engaging, mobilizing, and building power with these constituencies to increase turnout for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot, while also strengthening long-term multiracial organizing efforts. 

• North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Educational Fund focuses on underserved Black communities in eastern North Carolina and Raleigh. They will register and mobilize their constituencies to turn out for Democratic candidates in the U.S. Senate, state Supreme Court, and NCGA races in eastern North Carolina, and to protect Democrat Don Davis in North Carolina’s 1st congressional district. 
• Siembra NC will lead engagement and mobilization of Latine voters, leveraging their strong presence in Latine communities in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area and in Charlotte/Mecklenburg County. Siembra NC is the leading organization in the fight to protect immigrant residents from ICE, building trust and strong relationships with voters. 
• NC Asian Americans Together in Action (NCAAT in Action) is the only organization in the state working to engage AAPI residents. They will work across the state, with a specific emphasis on Wake and Mecklenburg Counties, to turn out AAPI voters for the U.S. Senate, state Supreme Court, and NCGA races. 

Photo: Siembra NC organizing community members around the issues they care about.

Strategy #2

Target tipping-point communities: Engage voters in rural areas, small towns, and urban centers to ensure both overlooked and committed Democratic voters turn out in November.

With North Carolina’s diverse geography, we cannot take any areas of the state for granted. We must ensure voters in Democratic strongholds like Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham turn out for Democratic candidates, while expanding and mobilizing support among multiracial, working-class voters in more rural areas who will likely turn out for Democrats if meaningfully engaged.

• Carolina Federation has chapters in four key urban/suburban metro areas — Durham, Forsyth/Winston-Salem, Guilford/Greensboro, and New Hanover/Wilmington — and the organizing power to mobilize voters at scale. In 2024, they knocked 700,000 doors, helping to elect Democratic Governor Josh Stein. They also led the ballot-curing effort in the contested 2024 state Supreme Court race that led to Allison Riggs’ victory. This year, Carolina Federation will strengthen existing chapters while establishing a new chapter in Charlotte/Mecklenburg to mobilize Democratic voters for the U.S. Senate and state Supreme Court races, while bolstering chapters in eastern North Carolina to mobilize voters for Don Davis in NC-01. 
• Down Home NC is one of the strongest groups in the state, organizing in rural communities and small towns. In 2024, they knocked more than 630,000 doors, helping move several rural counties to the left while much of the nation moved right. This year, they will mobilize rural Democratic voters for the U.S. Senate, state Supreme Court, and NCGA races through their chapters, with a specific focus on Cabarrus, Rowan, Ashe, and Franklin Counties.

Photo: Graduates of Down Home North Carolina’s first-ever Candidate Academy

Strategy #3

Leverage organized labor: Deploy union members to engage in scaled election work.

Building strong relationships with and leveraging the power of organized labor is a key component of engaging and mobilizing Democratic voters in North Carolina. MVP has been supporting our partners to build durable, multiracial, working-class alliances between electoral and labor organizing groups to secure more electoral and policy victories. This year, our partners will use those alliances to expand voter persuasion and turnout across the state. 

• Workers Vote (the PAC arm of UNITE HERE) will continue its successful voter engagement and power-building work to engage its union members in electoral organizing. As some of the most trusted community messengers, labor unions and their members are uniquely positioned to mobilize voters for Democratic candidates whose platforms include labor rights and economic justice. Several labor unions have endorsed Roy Cooper for U.S. Senate and Anita Earls for the state Supreme Court, including the NC State AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the North Carolina Association of Educators.

Workers Vote canvassing in North Carolina for pro-labor Democrat Rodney Pierce