Meet a FLIPster: Vikki Crouse

As the daughter of Mexican immigrants who grew up in a small town in western North Carolina, Vikki says “the personal has always been political.” She first got involved in political organizing as a college student at UNC, advocating for in-state tuition for undocumented students.

Now living in Raleigh with her husband Bill (who is an educator), Vikki is a public policy analyst at a multi-issue advocacy organization for children. “I love being able to take part in shaping public policies in our state and building a state where every family can thrive,” she says.

Check out this Q&A with Vikki, and then sign up to join her for an upcoming virtual phone bank!

10 Reasons to Focus on North Carolina’s OTHER Swing Voters in 2020

The national and North Carolina political landscapes have been changing rapidly over the past decade. While much attention has been paid to persuading white moderate “swing” voters who voted for Trump in 2016 to come back to the Democratic party in 2020, less attention has been given to North Carolina’s other swing voters: the registered voters in the Democratic base who are still deciding whether to vote – or vote down ballot – in 2020. With less than 70 days to go until election day, here are 10 critical reasons why a strong focus on appealing to left-leaning voters is key to flipping North Carolina blue in 2020.

FLIP NC’s 2018 Voter Outreach: What Worked (and What Didn’t)

For the 2018 elections, FLIP NC ran multiple forms of voter outreach targeting all left-leaning voters – from moderate to very left-leaning – in competitive legislative districts. These efforts were critical to flipping at least 3 districts in 2018. Following the election, we analyzed all of our voter outreach to determine what worked and with which voters – and what was not effective or worth our time going forward. Here’s what we found.

Southern Part of Hell: How the NC GOP Caused our Campus Outbreaks

Another week, another inglorious national distinction.

Our state legislature has once again thrust us into the national spotlight in a most embarrassing way, this time due to our GOP-controlled state university system’s massive failure in the forced reopenings of college campuses across the state, which culminated in the cancellation of in-person classes first at UNC-CH and then at NC State University University just one week after classes began. For universities across the country, the failure offers a warning about the risks associated with attempting similar reopening tactics this fall. For North Carolinians, the debacle is just the most recent example of the misuse of power by the UNC Board of Governors for partisan ends.

Meet a FLIPster: Annie LeVasseur

With the pandemic forcing FLIP NC to go completely virtual with our voter outreach efforts, many volunteers have recently joined us from all over the country through Vote Save America’s Adopt North Carolina program. In a lot of cases, they chose North Carolina because of a deeply personal connection: They went to college here, their favorite aunt lives here, or they spent part of their early years here. Such is the case with Annie. She was born in Charlotte and spent part of her childhood in the Tar Heel State.

“FLIP NC has been so awesome and welcoming,” Annie says. “Everyone should volunteer!”

Check out this Q&A with Annie, and then sign up to join her for an upcoming virtual phone bank!

Meet a FLIPster: Luke Harbur

Luke lives in Kansas City, Missouri, and serves as the communications associate for the American Jazz Museum. He and his brother have recruited several friends and relatives of all ages to phone bank with FLIP NC. Luke hasn’t always been politically active but has “been passionate about capturing social movements through photography and videography.”

Check out this Q&A with Luke – then sign up to join him on an upcoming phone bank!

Pivotal at Every Level: Cumberland County is Ground Zero for Flipping NC Blue in 2020

Cumberland County (southeastern NC/Fayetteville area) is well known outside the region as home of the Fort Bragg military base. Less well known may be that the county as a whole is strongly left-leaning. It had the 6th highest vote margin for Clinton in 2016 (behind only the larger cities of Charlotte, Greensboro, and the Triangle area) and will be key in 2020 in races not only for President, Senate, and Governor but also – with new maps now in place – for NC House, NC Senate, and US House.

Meet a FLIPster: Rachel Lichte

Originally from the Bay Area in California, Rachel first came to North Carolina to attend grad school at Duke. Rachel’s husband works in cancer research, and their 2-year-old happily knocked doors with FLIP NC, pre-COVID. Rachel has focused her career on using business for social and environmental impact and currently works as an independent consultant in design research, brand strategy, startup support, sustainability, and product design.

Check out this Q&A with Rachel, and then sign up to join her for an upcoming virtual phone bank – she’s a FLIP NC phone bank captain!

Here’s How You Can Get a FLIP NC Face Mask

Interested in receiving a FLIP NC face mask? We’re shipping them at no charge to frequent volunteers!

We have two designs – the VOTE option and the Wave option. Both are a hexagon shape and have an organic cotton interior and a polyester exterior with an elastic ear strap.

Since FLIP NC's founding, Durham-based Humbly Made has printed our popular and high-quality t-shirts. Humbly Made is also our face mask vendor!

Meet a FLIPster: Thomas Mande

A sophomore at Duke and a leader of Swing NC Duke, Thomas has volunteered with FLIP NC about 10 times, both as a phone banker and as a phone bank captain. He grew up in Maryland around politics – his father worked for President Obama at the USDA for eight years. But this election marks the first time Thomas has been super involved in voter outreach. “With so much at stake, I felt like I had to do my part and help out,” he says.

Read this Q&A with Thomas and then sign up to join him for an upcoming virtual phone bank – he co-leads the “College Edition” phone banks, designed to reach registered voters ages 17 to 22 in competitive NC House districts across the state.

Introducing ... Special Edition "2020" T-shirts!

An election – and a year – this critical calls for its own shirt!

Since FLIP NC's earliest days, Durham-based Humbly Made has printed our popular and high-quality t-shirts. Through July 24, they’ll ship you a special edition “2020” FLIP NC shirt and donate $10 from every shirt purchased to FLIP NC. This money will go directly to fund our crucial voter outreach efforts in the state's most competitive legislative districts. Hurry to take advantage of this limited-time event!

FLIP NC's Yard Sign Campaign

In the closest competitive districts across the state, there are more left-leaning than right-leaning voters, but right-leaning voters have historically turned out in greater numbers. To win in these critical districts, we need to get left-leaning voters to the polls (or absentee ballots) and make sure they vote the full ticket. Many voters don’t know that they live in a competitive district, and it doesn’t help that the district lines keep changing!

While these competitive districts are fairly even overall, some precincts are far more left-leaning than others. With this campaign, we will be targeting these precincts with yard sign messages letting voters know that early voting has begun and that they live in a super competitive district and encouraging them to vote the full ticket. The trio of signs will be posted together throughout each target precinct. We are also targeting key early voting sites with the “full ballot” sign and, where appropriate (i.e. the entire county is within the same competitive district) with the “super competitive” sign. We’ve ranked the precincts in competitive districts across the state and hope to raise enough funds to place signs across roughly 100 of them. Please donate to support this campaign!

  • $10 funds one sign

  • $30 funds three signs

  • $90 funds signs for one early voting site

  • $300 funds signs for a whole precinct

Note: At this time we are not selling these signs. Our first priority is to distribute them in competitive districts, but we may offer the “full ballot” and/or “early voting” signs to folks in other blue areas if there is significant interest.

Elect Black Women

Representation matters, and we need leaders who will fight for all North Carolinians. These outstanding candidates are running in very competitive NC House districts, and they need our help to win. Read on to learn more about these candidates, and donate to their campaigns today.

A New Plan for 2020

A New Plan for 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of our plans but none of our goals. The 2020 elections will be the most consequential of our lives. We need to re-elect Governor Cooper, oust the tin pot dictator in the White House and his Senate lackey Thom Tillis, AND break the Republican majority in the NCGA – before it can redraw NC’s legislative and congressional maps to lock in their power for the next decade. At the same time, the pandemic means we can no longer safely run face-to-face voter outreach, and there are no signs that it will become safer to do so between now and election day. So we’re adapting …

The Democratic Suburban Turnout Surge Continues in NC in 2020

The 2020 Democratic primary on March 3rd provides the latest snapshot of the trends in left-leaning turnout heading into the November general election. The county-by-county change in turnout compared with 2016 provides a clear picture: The Democratic suburban surge continues, while left-leaning turnout in the rest of the state lags behind.

FLIP NC March 31st Phone Bank Postponed

In response to rapidly changing information regarding the COVID-19 crisis, FLIP NC is postponing our next phone bank, scheduled for this Tuesday, March 31. The evolving federal response and changing state-level conditions have implications for how we advocate for the policies we most urgently need to help North Carolinians weather this crisis. To that end, we’re postponing next week’s phone bank until we can fully assess and communicate the immediate actions we need from our legislators.

As COVID-19 Spreads Across NC, Urge These State Legislators to Expand Medicaid

As COVID-19 Spreads Across NC, Urge These State Legislators to Expand Medicaid

With COVID-19 spreading rapidly, the need to expand Medicaid in North Carolina is more urgent than ever. Medicaid expansion would provide healthcare for 500,000 low-income households and create tens of thousands of desperately needed jobs in the healthcare sector.

Please reach out to the Republican legislators listed here and urge them to expand Medicaid in North Carolina. Governor Cooper has been fighting for Medicaid expansion and has the power to call a special session; we just need enough legislators to agree to support it. Read on for more information about how you can help.

Meet a FLIPster: Irene Skowronek

A clinical psychologist, Irene lives in Durham with her husband, two daughters, one dog, and 19 chickens.

She had incredibly inspiring high school teachers who first got her “politically activated.” “That activism has looked different at different points of my life,” she says. Right now, in addition to canvassing with FLIP NC, Irene volunteers with the PTA at her daughter’s elementary school. She is a board member of the Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill, chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council, and an advisory committee member for Jewish Family Services.

Check out this Q&A with Irene and then sign up to join her at an upcoming canvass in Alamance County or Wake County! Remember, knocking doors is the most important and effective action you can take in this critical election year.

A Recap of 'When We Knock, We Win' - FLIP NC's 2020 Launch Party

FLIP NC’s 2020 launch party on Sunday – When We Knock, We Win – proved once again that there’s a growing coalition of North Carolinians who are ready to canvass door to door to break the GOP majority in the NC General Assembly, oust Sen. Thom Tillis, re-elect Gov. Cooper, and flip our state blue in the presidential election.

At the event, keynote speaker Shaniqua McClendon – political director for Crooked Media – recounted her experiences in the Obama White House and on Capitol Hill working for Sen. Kay Hagan and Rep. Alma Adams before discussing her company’s plans to convert more podcast listeners into activists during this pivotal election year. She also shared that Vote Save America, relaunching later this month, has selected North Carolina as one of the crucial battleground states it will focus on in 2020!

An Interview with Crooked Media Political Director Shaniqua McClendon

While our work on the 2020 elections is already well underway, we’ll officially kick off with our “When We Knock, We Win” 2020 Launch Party at Motorco on Sunday, Jan. 12. The launch party is free to attend, but registration is required, and we expect to reach capacity. RSVP here.

Our guest speaker that evening will join us from Crooked Media headquarters in LA. Shaniqua McClendon grew up in the Creedmoor area, graduated from UNC, and went on to work in the White House and on Capitol Hill before becoming political director for Crooked, a company that was founded by former Obama staffers and produces podcasts like “Pod Save America” and “Lovett or Leave It.”

Check out our conversation with Shaniqua to learn more about her thoughts on the NC General Assembly and Democrats’ chances to win in our state in 2020.