PHOTO | PATRICK BATTLE

NextGen America North Carolina State Youth Director Josette Ferguson at the February One statue at N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro.

North Carolina is on the front line of a progressive drive to flip the U.S. House of Representatives.

NextGen America, an activist program backed by California billionaire Tom Steyer, has opened operations in North Carolina to elect Democrats in the 9th and 13th congressional districts. The Tar Heel State is part of NextGen Rising, an organizing program in 11 states in advance of the midterm elections. The goal is to recruit young adults age 18-35 to register voters and boost turnout for Democrats in November. North Carolina is different in that the campaign leans heavily on volunteers from historically black colleges.

“North Carolina is the only state within the other 10 states that is focusing on HBCUs,” said state director Josette Ferguson, 26. “We have Fayetteville State, A&T, Bennett College as well as Livingstone. We’re focusing on these schools to organize black students, which is not done a lot, especially a campaign of this scale. We’re really focusing on making sure their voice is heard.”

NextGen, which launched during the 2016 election cycle, uses distributed organizing to reach progressives outside traditional battleground states to expand the number of volunteers working to reach young voters in competitive districts. National political observers see the 9th and 13 as competitive races in 2018: The Rev. Mark Harris, a Baptist pastor who upset incumbent Charlotte Republican Robert Pittenger in the May primary, faces Democrat Dan McCready, a former Marine and small business owner in the 9th, which includes South Charlotte. Republicans have represented the 9th District, which stretches east to Cumberland County, since 1963. Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to turn the House; a net gain of two seats will switch the Senate.

The 13th Congressional District, created in 2002 after North Carolina gained population in the 2000 Census, is represented by incumbent Republican Ted Budd of Advance. His opponent is Democrat Kathy Manning of Greensboro. The 13th District includes all of Davidson and Davie counties, and parts of Guilford, Forsyth, Rowan and Iredell counties, and includes three of the four of the HBCUs in NextGen’s campaign. Fayetteville State University is in the 9th.

“In every corner of the country, from deep-red states to dark blue cities, progressives are eager to stand up to Donald Trump and his Republican Party. Energy and momentum are on our side, but we won’t take anything for granted this year,” Steyer said in a statement. “We’re leaving no stone unturned and ensuring that every American who wants to fight back has the opportunity, resources, and training that they need to be a part of the blue wave that will take back Congress this year.”

NextGen America is already running the largest youth vote program in American history, registering, engaging, and mobilizing young people across eleven states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The North Carolina campaign pulls young adults to familiar places, such as parties and pop-up events.

“We’re using social media as well as different tactics such as throwing parties and other events that we know young black people are going to attend,” said Ferguson, a Greensboro resident who was a volunteer on U.S. Rep. Alma Adams’ 2014 congressional campaign. “Then we can get them registered to vote, and then get them to buy in to the process of understanding why they need to vote in November.”

Comments