Vance urges GOP base to head to the polls during North Carolina visit

With less than a week until Election Day, and with Republicans lagging other groups in early voting, Vice President JD Vance rallied in North Carolina Wednesday to help get out the vote. 

Speaking to a crowd of about 500 attendees at Kinston Regional Jetport, Vance urged them to vote Republican straight down the ballot.

“In six days, you have an opportunity to vote for North Carolina patriots who believe in real sovereignty,” Vance said. 

He stumped for U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley and Army veteran Laurie Buckhout, who is running for North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, and dunked on their respective Democratic opponents, former Gov. Roy Cooper and U.S. Rep. Don Davis.

Those contests could play a crucial role in control of Congress. The challenging political climate has left Republicans playing defense in more states than expected. 

In the U.S. House, Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win a majority. In the Senate, Democrats need a net gain of four. Republicans are defending Senate seats in Texas, Maine, Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, and Kansas, as well as North Carolina.

“Chances are, I’m going to be, at the end of the day, the 51st Republican senator, or Roy Cooper is going to be the 51st Democrat,” Whatley said. 

The Cooper campaign criticized Whatley for his ties to Washington. Whatley, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, has consistently aligned himself with President Donald Trump.

“It’s no surprise Michael Whatley’s DC insider friends are trying to boost his desperate campaign,” a Cooper campaign spokesperson told NC Newsline. “Roy Cooper is the only candidate with plans to make stuff cost less while Michael Whatley led the charge to give billionaires handouts.”

The enthusiasm gap

Around 2 million North Carolinians have cast their ballots so far during early voting, and while all political affiliations are voting at numbers greater than during the last midterm election in 2022, the growth in Democratic and unaffiliated early voting is far outpacing the GOP’s. 

As of the close of early voting Tuesday, the number of early votes cast by Democrats was 50% higher than in 2022. Early ballots cast by unaffiliated voters saw an even larger jump — 67% higher than in 2022. Republicans were also up over their 2022 numbers, but only by 10%.

Historically, Republicans see higher turnout than other groups on Election Day, but Buckhout encouraged attendees to vote early.

“I know we are the traditionalists, we believe in that day being a near-sacred day to exercise your constitutional rights,” she told the crowd. “Here’s the deal: If you go early, it saves people money because then we don’t have to keep sending you those annoying cardboard things that come in your mailbox.”

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, who represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District and chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the “hard truth” is that Republicans need to head to the polls.

“A lot of Republicans are a little bit hard-headed. The Constitution does say Election Day, and doesn’t say Election Month — I get it, but folks, we have got to get out and vote,” Hudson said. 

Kinston sits in North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, served by U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy since 2019.

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Republican state lawmakers carved out some GOP voters in the 3rd and moved them into the 1st last year, aiming to displace Davis. That left the 3rd slightly less safe for the GOP, and a blue wave could cause the redistricting to backfire. Cook Political Report shifted the seat from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican” last week. 

“Voting is not a privilege,” Murphy said. “It is a responsibility that comes from living in a free country. Do not sit this election out.”

Carteret County resident Dale Gillikin declined to share who she planned to vote for, but said she hoped Republicans would win across the ticket.

“I’m here to see the vice president. I thought he was great,” she said.