NextGen America Announces $250,000 Effort in NC-09 Special Election

Program includes voter registration, grassroots organizing, and a digital effort to mobilize young North Carolinians

Charlotte, NC – Today, NextGen America announced its $250,000 effort to register and turn out young voters in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District ahead of the September 10th special election. With 8 full-time staff and over 300 volunteers from last cycle, NextGen North Carolina plans to register 2,000 young voters, pledge 5,000 young people to vote, and knock on over 15,000 doors to elect Dan McCready to represent NC-09 in Congress. NextGen’s efforts will also include a significant digital program.

“North Carolina Republicans have gerrymandered their maps, passed oppressive voter-ID laws, and last November tried to steal votes and thwart democracy,” said Ben Wessel, Youth Vote Director at NextGen America. “The GOP has no moral ground left to stand on in North Carolina, and come September, young people will head to the polls in the name of justice and send Dan McCready to Congress.”

In 2018, NextGen North Carolina registered over 6,100 young voters, collected over 6,500 pledges to vote, and knocked on over 32,000 doors. The group’s efforts ultimately helped elect the Honorable Anita Earls and break the Republican supermajority in the state legislature.

Campus organizing was core to NextGen’s success last year, and their organizers will once again focus on mobilizing college students in NC-09. With Fayetteville State students cut out of the electorate by notorious GOP gerrymandering efforts, NextGen North Carolina will organize young voters on 7 college campuses, including 3 community colleges — UNC Pembroke, St Andrews University, Central Piedmont Community College, Queens University, Wingate University, Robeson Community College, and Bladen Community College. In 2018, NextGen helped increase turnout by 10 points at UNC Pembroke, a historically American Indian University. Ahead of the election, NextGen plans to double down on turning out young voters at UNC Pembroke, along with other often-overlooked native and rural areas of NC-09.

Since the launch of NextGen North Carolina in early 2018, NextGen organizers have fought to dismantle countless barriers to the ballot box. Recently, the group spearheaded efforts to pass HB 646, a critical bill that extended the deadline for universities to get their student IDs approved as eligible voter IDs, thereby expanding ballot access to thousands of young North Carolinians. In the lead-up to the new November deadline, NextGen plans to hold college administrations accountable to making all university-issued IDs valid at the polls.