{"id":2530000,"date":"2026-01-05T12:14:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T17:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nc-gop-hopes-edge-in-voter-registrations-will-give-2026-advantage\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:16:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T17:16:50","slug":"nc-gop-hopes-edge-in-voter-registrations-will-give-2026-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nc-gop-hopes-edge-in-voter-registrations-will-give-2026-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"NC GOP hopes edge in voter registrations will give 2026 advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnc-gop-hopes-edge-in-voter-registrations-will-give-2026-advantage%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2530000&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>North Carolina Republicans now outnumber Democrats in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fridays-fun-fraud-fact-mysterious-spike-in-incomplete-nv-voter-registrations-13372-with-invalid-birthdates-and-casinos-and-temporary-rv-parks-as-a-home-address\/\" title=\"FRIDAY&#039;S FUN FRAUD FACT: Mysterious Spike in Incomplete NV Voter Registrations - 13,372 with Invalid Birthdates and Casinos and Temporary RV Parks as a Home Address\">voter registrations<\/a>,the State Board of Elections reported,after the GOP added 4,318 voters and Democrats added 1,637,giving Republicans a net advantage of 2,077. State GOP chair Jason simmons said the shift provides a &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/once-a-close-race-newsom-is-clear-favorite-one-day-out-from-california-recall\/\" title=\"Once A Close Race, Newsom Is Clear Favorite One Day Out From California Recall\">structural advantage<\/a>,&#8221; pointing to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >stronger early-vote performance<\/a> and higher GOP turnout as factors that could help in the 2026 midterms. Both parties have already spent heavily on 2025 campaigns,with AdImpact noting nearly 20% of a record $1.87 billion in political ads targeted the midterms. Democrats remain optimistic after last year&#8217;s wins, while republicans aim to protect slim House and Senate majorities. In North Carolina, nearly 3 million unaffiliated voters-about 39% of the electorate-outnumber both parties, and Simmons dismissed that trend as partly the result of newcomers or people selecting &#8220;No Party&#8221; at the DMV, saying the GOP will work to court those voters as races such as the open Senate seat formerly held by Thom Tillis take shape.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">North Carolina GOP hopes historic edge in voter registrations give &lsquo;structural advantage&rsquo; in 2026 elections<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2446633\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/north-carolina\/\">North Carolina<\/a> Republicans hope that data indicating voters prefer the GOP over <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democratic-party\/\">Democrats<\/a> will give them a boost in the 2026 elections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There are now more registered Republicans than Democrats in North Carolina, the State Board of Elections announced over the weekend. Republicans added 4,318 new voters, while Democrats added 1,637, giving the GOP a net advantage of 2,077 registered voters.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4399593\/key-lawmakers-congress-looming-shutdown\/\">Key lawmakers to watch as Congress faces another looming shutdown deadline<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4356470\/mod-squad-elaine-luria-hope-spanberger-sherrill-slotkin-successes\/\">&#8216;Mod squad&#8217;: Luria sees hope from Spanberger, Sherrill, and Slotkin&#8217;s successes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/magazine-features\/4362685\/prices-challenge-ahead-trump-republicans-2026\/\">It&rsquo;s the prices, stupid: The big challenge that lies ahead for Trump and the GOP<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Jason Simmons, chairman of the state Republican Party, said <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theassemblync.com\/news\/politics\/nc-republicans-overtake-democrats-in-voter-registration\/\">he believes <\/a>the development marks growing momentum for his side in the coming <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-elections\/\">midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It definitely gives us a structural advantage,&rdquo; Simmons told the <em>Assembly<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We saw that last year when we went through the presidential election. Republicans, for the first time, won early voting. That&rsquo;s in large part because of the structural advantage that we&rsquo;ve been able to gain, where we&rsquo;ve had an increase in Republican registration, we turn out our people at a higher level than Democrats or even the unaffiliateds. As we have more Republicans and as we have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-gop-wont-endorse-a-candidate-in-special-election-to-recall-democratic-gov-newsom\/\" title=\"California ... Won\u2019t Endorse A Candidate In Special Election To Recall Democratic Gov. Newsom\">higher turnout<\/a>, that allows us to have that structural advantage going into elections,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Both parties have already poured massive amounts of funds into this year&rsquo;s elections. Nearly 20% of the historic $1.87 billion political advertisements aired in 2025 were actually aimed at the midterm elections, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4399628\/2026-campaign-ad-spending-arms-race-underway\/\">according to new data <\/a>from AdImpact.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have high hopes for 2026, framing their victories in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2025-elections\/\">elections last year<\/a> as a bellwether for the midterm elections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Republicans, facing a historical disadvantage, are fighting to stave off gains and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-gop-sen-capito-talk-infrastructure-deal\/\" title=\"Biden, ... Sen. Capito Talk Infrastructure Deal\">hold slim majorities<\/a> in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3918169\/2026-midterm-elections-battleground-senate-races-polling\/\">House and Senate<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In North Carolina, both parties must grapple with how to reach independents as <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate-news\/3457696\/tillis-surprise-retirement-scrambles-2026-senate-map\/\">they fight to clinch <\/a>outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis&rsquo;s (R-NC) seat for their side.&nbsp;Nearly 3 million unaffiliated voters now outnumber Democrats and Republicans in the state, accounting for roughly 39% of North Carolina&rsquo;s electorate.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4074899\/2026-battleground-congress-most-vulnerable-seats\/\"><strong>THE 2026 BATTLEGROUND: CONGRESS&rsquo;S MOST VULNERABLE HOUSE AND SENATE SEATS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When pressed this week on how unaffiliated voter registration is heavily outpacing that of both Democrats and Republicans, Simmons downplayed the threat to his party.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Well, you have a lot of people that, as they move into the state, they don&rsquo;t necessarily come with a political allegiance one way or the other, or they just show up to the DMV, and they select the [No Party] box,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That unaffiliated becomes their default. And so our mission is to continue to reach out to those people that are moving into the state.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NC GOP gains voter-registration edge for 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2530001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Michael-Whatley.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[70169,70170,6203,70168,6431],"class_list":["post-2530000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-2026-elections-2","tag-election-strategy-2","tag-gop","tag-north-carolina-2","tag-voter-registration"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Michael-Whatley.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2530000"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2530004,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530000\/revisions\/2530004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2530001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2530000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2530000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2530000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}