A woman prays inside Mt Lebanon AME Zion Church, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina © AP.On a Sunday morning in mid-September, the air was full of gospel music, prayer, and politics inside the historic Mt Lebanon AME Zion Church.
For our community, this is a very critical moment as well, and it's an opportunity, but it's also precarious," said Reverend Javan Leach. Hi Everyone, What I mean by dangerous is when we shut 5 ourselves and do not vote, that silence becomes a vote for the opposition.
"Why I say dangerous: If we do not get in your voice and body, that is a vote for the other side.
"Amen," the audience said.
It is a Democratic outpost in politically red-east North Carolina, the exception to the rule of conservative rural Pasquotank County - with African Americans making up one-third of its population.
In 2008, rural black voters like those at Mt. Lebanon church were credited with helping Obama take the state, the only time a Democrat has won North Carolina since the 1970s. Trump carried the state in 2016 and also in 2020.
Support for Democrats, however, has been dropping in Pasquotank just as it has in other rural precincts across the country over several recent election cycles. Democrat Joe Biden carried the county by only 62 votes — his smallest margin to date in a state whose support he desperately needs - little more than Sunday's congregation.
Trump edged Biden by 1.3% there in 2020, but his fate is currently listed as a "toss-up" with Kamala Harris, so that represents some form of a ray of hope for Democrats given how long it has been since they won an election here.
With margins razor-thin in North Carolina and crucial battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, Harris' campaign will need to rally the Democratic base across all state regions—solid blue urban centers and deep-red hinterlands.
Pastor Javaan Leach preaches the gospel and how political welfare influences criminals.To do it, they've begun with offices in some areas where Democrats rarely campaign and want to change that. The object is to produce the most significant number of ballots imaginable from locations that should be least inclined — except by going deep into enemy terrain if needed.
Onslow County is among those rural counties on a long stretch of the southeastern coast.
A local bed-and-breakfast was hosting a small, pulled-pork-fueled gathering of Democrats that day last month.
" We don't have to cower in rural communities as Democrats, Anderson Clayton, North Carolina Democratic Party chairwoman, said quietly to the nearly dozen people gathered.
We should be proud of that and wear a badge of honor on our chests this year as we go out to vote.
Amid the blue and white decorations of picnic tables draped with Democratic linens and balloons that read "I'm voting with Democrats," Restuccia explained what he had given up to be here. Next to it was a life-size cutout of Kamala Harris.
This was resistance in a setting such as Onslow.
Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2020 but crushed Joe Biden by over 30% of the vote.
Getting out and knocking on doors is genuinely frightening. I get that," Clayton said.
A big truck barreled past with a Trump flag flying in the back as she spoke.
Her optimism didn't waver.
Chair of the North Carolina Democrats, Anderson Clayton
" Her voice rose as she continued, "Political realignment is occurring in rural communities across North Carolina.
"People will see it whether they choose to like and realize that.
The party has allocated considerable spending in the state, recruiting 32,000 volunteers and deploying more than 340 paid staff while opening offices—even in rural Republican-led counties like Onslow.
Republicans are taking notice.
Dozens of journalists found a gem from Thom Tillis, who kindly told Semafor, "What we're seeing in North Carolina that we haven't seen for a time, though, is a well-organized ground game by the Democrats.
At the same time, although Harris has zero shot of winning these deep red areas outright, margins matter in this election. The Democrats are gambling that a handful of additional votes from an unpromising sector could potentially make or break what already looks to be a razor-thin outcome.
By the time Trump's campaign came to Onslow County, he was nearing the end of his marathon stops, and energy in the crowd began to fade as dinnertime approached.
Some hung around, such as a 14-year-old who walked up to Clayton just to say hello.
"After listening to you, well, I realized that what I'm going to do on Saturday is go and door knock," Gavin Rohwedder stated.
One more volunteer in Onslow than yesterday…Clayton smiled.
"Etch by bit," she told Fox News. "The only thing people need is to believe in them.
Chloe Hercules (left), chair of the Onslow County Teen Democrats, brought Gavin Rohwedder to my campaign event.However, the Democrats were foiled when Hurricane Helene struck at the end of September.
At least 95 people died in North Carolina as a result of the storm. Nearly 100 are still missing.
The two political parties must reevaluate their ground game with residents embarking on a years-long rebuilding process.
Kathie Kline, the Democratic Party chair in Buncombe County — home to Asheville and one of the party's strongest redoubts in conservative eastern North Carolina — said some residents are unable even now to use their home internet or mobile phones while drinking only bottled clean water.
You win elections the old-fashioned way, by knocking on doors and talking to people face-to-face," she told Fox News. Indeed, we could not allow that to go on.
Some residents in North Carolina lined up to vote at the polls when early voting began on Thursday; other people waited with trailers provided by government agencies so they could shower, said Kline.
It is a messy situation that Kline said could be something the Democrats have going against them in November: "I hate to admit it, but yes."
Harris-Walz volunteers knocking on doors in Wilmington.If you were hoping North Carolina would go quietly into the night, prepare yourselves for a lengthy tussle.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: As strategists acknowledge, the state is shaping up as something close to a must-win for Donald Trump if he wants to win back the White Houe. It was the lone battleground state that he captured in 2020.
Trump's running mate, JD Vance, said last month of the state: "It is tough for us to win unless we can get North Carolina."
Republicans also know their state will be critical in deciding who wins this election.
Adele Walker, who runs an antique store in Selma, N.C., has been a Republican all her life, but she'd never volunteered to canvass until this year.
" This is a very crucial election, " Walker said. I am firmly against abortion, and with the whole border issue potentially closing down-- we do not require open borders. That's what America has to do without Obama, so this is vitally important for all conservatives around everywhere."
Johnston County Republican member Adele WalkerWhile knocking on doors in the kind of country nowhere that his barely-anyone-bothered-to-vote-in-the-primary voters call home, Walker approached a woman on her front porch and asked for her support.
"Hola," stated Walker, and in Spanish, they proceeded.
The woman, a Honduran national later identified by Walker as Shumania Sinance Perez, said she had not been previously contacted by any political parties.
Walker then grabbed a Spanish-translated Constitution from the cardboard box she had been carrying under her arm and gave it to the lady.
Slightly taken aback, she left the meeting.
Hmm, said Walker. Nobody said Democrats were going through here last week.
Conclusion
North Carolina politics are in the middle of a change, and grassroots work and community leaders will determine who gets out to vote this election. The Mt. Lebanon AME Zion Church showcases the critical role rural African American voters played in shaping election results, and it also.»
Even Hurricane Helene cannot dampen the resolve of party leaders such as Anderson Clayton, who, through difficulty, remains committed to inspiring and rallying supporters. North Carolina is at a critical juncture approaching an election with the highest stakes of any statewide contest this year, so it is more important than ever to ensure citizens are activated and engaged in their own government.
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