When We Fight, We Win: Volunteer Opportunities in the Final Days of The Election

In the words of the very wise Michelle Obama: “Do something!” Here are some effective ways to get involved so that we can toast to a blue North Carolina on election night.

FLIP NC has always focused on filling gaps in voter outreach and information – including early canvassing to connect with voters outside the traditional Get Out The Vote (GOTV) period. With campaign and party GOTV efforts now in full swing, we encourage you to join one of the following efforts.

Why We Stopped Knocking Doors in September – and How We’ll Reach Voters in the Final Weeks of the Election

For this election cycle, FLIP NC began canvassing in March 2024, talking with left-leaning voters around the state about our critical statewide judicial races and the importance of turning out and voting the full ballot.

10,000 doors later, we hosted our final FLIP NC canvass of 2024 in mid-September. Why did we stop knocking doors in September? Read to post to learn more.

You may be asking: Why not continue knocking doors until election day?

Introducing: The FLIP NC 2024 Voter Guide

Election-denying, voting-rights-trampling GOP extremists appear up and down the ballot in North Carolina. We need representatives who will fight for equal rights, good jobs, affordable health care, clean air and water, and a strong public education system – who look out for everyday North Carolinians and put people before corporations.

Democrats are running an especially impressive slate of statewide candidates this year, and we’re thrilled to cast our ballots for them!

To learn more, download the The FLIP NC 2024 Voter Guide – and please spread the word!

Meet a FLIPster: Rob Ferguson

Rob has been a proud Durhamite for 25 years, raising his children in the Bull City. A psychologist, he has also written books on leadership and conflict.

Along with his dedicated network of family and friends, Rob has been dropping a lot of lit at the doors of left-leaning voters in Durham! They’ve been to more than 950 homes already! Working in pairs or teams of three, the group – which gathers at least weekly – has found that they can reach dozens of doors in an hour.

Check out this Q&A with Rob, and then join his team for a special lit drop party, launching from Durham restaurant Succotash on Saturday, Sept. 7! You can also get started by signing up to lit drop on your own, no matter where you are in North Carolina.

Rolling Back Progress and Precedent: North Carolina’s Supreme Court and the Fight Against Gerrymandering

Since 2012, Republicans in North Carolina have used extreme partisan gerrymandering to redraw election maps in ways that dilute the votes of Democratic voters for partisan gain. Our state courts once served as a backstop against the most extreme partisan gerrymandering, but following the far-right takeover last year, the Republican justices immediately recalled a case decided just 7 weeks before and ruled that Republicans could rig election districts however they want. To restore true democracy in North Carolina and get fair maps, we must take back our courts from far-right extremists.

Meet a FLIPster: Claire Veazey

Claire lives in Durham with her partner, John, and their two cats, Kevin and Betty. From UNC, she earned her bachelor’s degree and a master’s in public health (MPH) degree and has stayed ever since. She is now a fundraiser for the UNC School of Medicine, teaches Barre3, and serves on the board of Girls on the Run of the Triangle. She was introduced to FLIP NC by a friend in early 2020.

Check out this Q&A with Claire, and then sign up to join her at an upcoming FLIP NC event!

Meet a FLIPster: Mike and Cathy Warner

Mike and Cathy live in Raleigh and are partners in democracy (and everything else!). Mike spends most of his time volunteering with democracy-saving groups like FLIP NC. But he will carve out a bit of space for making music, Canes games, and Michigan football games. Cathy feels fortunate to be a young-ish retiree after 32 years in the tech industry. She is writing her second novel and enjoys volunteering at an Immigration Services center.  

Check out this Q&A with the Warners – who have left flyers at an astounding 1,000+ doors and counting since signing on among our very first lit droppers! – and then sign up to join them at an upcoming FLIP NC event. Or get started dropping lit on your own!

FLIP NC Lit Drop FAQs

Since we soft-launched our lit drop program in late June, we’ve reached over 10,000 voters with information about our critical state court races. Here are answers to some common questions about this program.

A huge thank you to everyone who is helping spread the word about our critical state court races and the importance of voting the full ballot in November!

Our Interview with Court of Appeals Candidate Ed Eldred

This November, it’s paramount that North Carolina voters elect Democrats Ed Eldred, Martin Moore, and Judge Carolyn Thompson to the N.C. Court of Appeals, flipping two GOP seats and defending one to fight back against the Republicans’ dominating 11-4 majority.

With victories throughout the next three election cycles, Democrats can win a majority on the Court of Appeals by 2028!

FLIP NC Communications Director Andrea Cash sat down with Eldred, an experienced appellate attorney from Carrboro who has argued multiple times in front of the Court of Appeals and the N.C. Supreme Court. He is passionate about the work he does, including representing parents who are trying to regain custody of their children. His wife, Tracy, first joined FLIP NC in 2020.

Eldred discusses the seismic shift that has occurred in Democratic politics since Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee; his pitch to voters; concerns voters have about partisanship from the bench; and more.

Meet a FLIPster: Ali Mabel

FLIP NC volunteer Ali Mabel lives in Raleigh with her husband and their assortment of houseplants. She came across FLIP NC online, when she was looking to get involved after moving to Raleigh in 2018. Since then, she has volunteered at numerous FLIP NC canvasses and has been lit dropping regularly since this year’s campaign launched.

Check out this Q&A with Ali, and then sign up to join her at an upcoming FLIP NC event! 

Our Interview with Court of Appeals Candidate Judge Carolyn Thompson

In 2024, Democrats must defend Judge Carolyn Thompson’s seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals and elect Martin Moore and Ed Eldred to flip two more seats blue.

Democrats currently hold only 4 of the 15 Court of Appeals seats. But they can take back the Court of Appeals by 2028. Winning these seats is critical! 

FLIP NC Communications Director Andrea Cash sat down for a conversation with Thompson, who brings more than two decades of experience to the bench. She has been a trial attorney and served on the district court and superior court as well as the N.C. Court of Appeals. She is passionate about helping victims of domestic violence and mentoring other Black women who want to pursue a law career. 

Judge Thompson discusses her pitch to voters; what she enjoys most about serving on three-judge panels on the Court of Appeals; the importance of recusing when there is a conflict of interest on a case; being perched on the shoulders of the generations who preceded her; and more. 

She’s Sure to Lose, and That’s the Point: Meet N.C. Senate Candidate Kate Compton Barr

To draw attention to North Carolina Republicans’ extreme partisan gerrymandering, Kate Barr is running in a state senate district so heavily rigged she has no shot at winning.

“Voters deserve to have real choices about who represents them. It's how we hold our elected officials accountable for the decisions they make on our behalf. But, in gerrymandering, instead of voters choosing their representatives, the representatives choose their voters. That's wrong.”

On July 16, we’re teaming up with Barr to host a screening of the award-winning documentary Slay the Dragon and a Q&A with Democratic N.C. Supreme Court Justices (and former civil rights lawyers) Allison Riggs and Anita Earls.

What a Week! (an Asheville recap)

We had a great few days in Asheville tabling at the Lovett or Leave It show and then running a canvass in partnership with Indivisible Asheville. The MANY special guests to join our canvass kick-off included Jon Lovett, Justice Allison Riggs, N.C. Court of Appeals candidates Martin Moore and Ed Eldred, and N.C. Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton.