Voted for Trump? This NC Democrat’s campaign may visit you. Here’s why. 

For every dollar donated for the remainder of August, Erica Smith’s campaign for Senate says it will knock on a door in a North Carolina county that Donald Trump won in the 2020 presidential race.

The campaign, after August, will use a specific fund where people can donate to outreach in Trump-won counties. Smith — a former state senator who is lagging far behind in fundraising ahead of the 2022 U.S. Senate primary — says the strategy isn’t a gimmick to annoy Trump voters, but is aimed at making Democrats competitive in areas outside big cities, the party’s traditional stronghold.

Smith’s campaign could use a cash infusion as the two leading Democrats in the race have, so far, jumped far ahead in fundraising. State Sen. Jeff Jackson and former NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley raised $700,000 and $1.28 million in the second quarter, respectively, while Smith raised about $110,000.

Smith hopes to not only draw a significant amount of financial support to her progressive cause, but also lay the groundwork for a future expansion of the Democratic Party in rural North Carolina.

“If we are going to expand our seats in our districts in the North Carolina House and the North Carolina Senate, we cannot do that unless we start competing in these rural and suburban counties,” she said. “This is an investment in that.”

“If we had had more Democrats and more outreach in the rural parts of the state, there’s no doubt to me that Biden would have won North Carolina,” she added.

Unifying NC’s working class

In a campaign video announcing the door-knocking initiative, Smith walks out her front door in the faint morning light to harvest string beans and corn. The family farm brings her mixed emotions, she says, representing both the lingering effects of slavery on Black North Carolinians and the resourcefulness of her family to push through tough times.

Smith uses her farm as a metaphor for the state, arguing that progressive policies can move it “closer to the promise of what we know it can be.”

In the ad and the new campaign drive, Smith aims to do something difficult: unite conservative, rural voters with progressives over shared struggles like food insecurity, burdensome medical expenses and low wages. But Democrats like Smith also have to navigate more divisive issues like abortion and immigration if they want to build a broad-based coalition.

Campaign visits coming soon

By mid-September, Smith’s campaign hopes to be knocking on doors in Trump-won counties, said Morris Katz, one of her campaign advisers.

Those workers will visit the homes of both Democrats and Republicans. Which counties will be most-heavily targeted will depend on how much money the program raises — $50,000 for 50,000 doors, or $400,000 for 400,000 doors.

Katz acknowledged that there is some debate about whether targeting Trump-won areas is worth it in a bang-for-your-buck sense, but said the campaign believes it is, both strategically and morally.

“Obviously President Trump had incredibly problematic beliefs and policies and rhetoric, but he was able to effectively tap into a feeling that a lot of North Carolinians and a lot of Americans had of feeling left behind,” he said. “We should be, as Democrats, hearing that and trying to address that by showing up.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 3:10 PM.

Will Wright

The Charlotte Observer

Will Wright covers politics in Charlotte and North Carolina. He previously covered eastern Kentucky for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and worked as a reporting fellow at The New York Times.