Quick facts about Advance Carolina
About Advance Carolina: Founded in 2015, Advance North Carolina (“Advance Carolina”) is a Black-led organization that builds political and economic power in Black communities and institutions across the state. Advance Carolina educates and engages voters to get involved in pursuing inclusive, ground-up political and societal solutions. With deep connections in the communities it serves, Advance Carolina provides leadership opportunities for youth, people of color, and women, and conducts political advocacy, including endorsing candidates and supporting issue-based campaigns. Advance Carolina builds strong partnerships among local anchor institutions and other grassroots organizations.
In 2022, Advance Carolina worked to expand participation in our democracy through events like Barbers 4 Ballots and Unlock Our Vote, which registered formerly incarcerated North Carolinians after their voting rights were restored by a 2022 court case. Advance Carolina coordinated hundreds of volunteers who engaged high potential voters considered unlikely to vote in the 2022 general election, reaching out by phone, text, and door to door to tens of thousands of North Carolina voters.
Focusing largely on women, faith-based communities, rural voters, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Advance Carolina helped make a difference statewide, where 93% of Black voters favored Democrats. Voters mobilized by Advance Carolina helped elect 28 of Advance Carolina’s endorsed candidates, from sheriffs to state legislators.
North Carolina is at a critical juncture where work to build solid, lasting political strength among Democratic voters could pull the state back from right wing rule in the state Supreme Court and legislature.
2023-2024 Action Plan:
By any measure, tilting North Carolina blue is essential to Democratic power nationally and requires long-view investing and organizing. In 2023, there are a number of important local and state elections, from sheriffs to state house and senate seats that are crucial to reversing the current Republican supermajority. Advance Carolina is “all in” on these races, supporting progressive candidates and getting out the vote this year, which in turn, helps generate more reliable Democratic voters for the national 2024 election. North Carolina faces significant efforts to suppress voting, particularly of Black voters, assisted by the newly emboldened conservative state supreme court. To respond to voter intimidation that may occur inside and outside of polling locations, Advance Carolina has recently launched the “Advance the Voter Project,” which prioritizes outreach and voter protection in precincts in primarily Black neighborhoods where voter intimidation is likely and and there is typically low voter turnout.
In 2024, North Carolina will be one of the crucial tipping point states for the presidency and will have tight races that help determine control of the U.S. Congress. The Democratic Governor will be termed out, and electing a Democrat to fill the open seat will be imperative to preventing a GOP trifecta. Advance Carolina is working on a massive get-out-the-vote effort for the less-well-publicized 2023 races and is establishing hubs based on newly drawn districts that are crucial to winning in 2024. Advance Carolina will remain very active in its urban strongholds while creating new centers of power in rural areas that have a “deficit” of Black voters (precincts where, though the majority of residents are Black, their representatives are white). Advance Carolina works with a wide group of partners, including church groups and many more, to connect with voters where they are.
Flip the Vote’s Support means:
In the previous cycle, Flip the Vote’s investment helped Advance Carolina double its get-out-the-vote hubs across the state, from four to eight. With additional support from our community of donors, Advance Carolina will be able to expand even further into new counties, particularly those where Historically Black Colleges and Universities are located, and where marginal increases in Democratic voters can flip crucial U.S. House seats and make the difference in the U.S. presidential race. Flip the Vote’s investment provides resources to hire staff for these new hubs, enlist more volunteers, and create educational events for the community. All of this translates into more engaged citizens, more power around local issues, and more votes for key local and national elections.