How Rural Voices Have Changed North Carolina’s Ground Game

One drawback of living in a democratic republic is finding ways to keep disillusioned voters engaged with the political process after their preferred candidates lose on Election Day.

And yet, a perk of operating a nonprofit that empowers rural citizens to become civically and electorally engaged at all levels of government is finding ways to keep those same disillusioned voters involved with the political process, especially in the face of defeat.

After seeing nearly 60,000 Black, Hispanic, Native American and AAPI voters not have an opportunity to vote in the 2020 General Election, the New Rural Project (NRP) was launched in 2021 by holding virtual County Conversations with each of our seven focus counties. The idea was – and remains – to inspire hope and to lift those rural voters who feel hopeless, helpless, voiceless, and invisible. We are working to accomplish this by actively listening to the concerns of local voters by hosting meaningful conversations at regular gathering spots, from barber shops and community centers to beauty salons and front porches.

The alarming fact that 60% of those disengaged voters were between 18 and 40 led us to launch our Young People’s Conversations. Our ensuing conversations with many of those disaffected voters helped us better understand their expectations of elected officials, especially regarding access to affordable housing, healthcare, and crime reduction—the issues they told us matter most to them.

In these conversations, we also highlight young elected officials, entrepreneurs and community leaders who are currently engaged and doing good things in their communities. This approach allows us to serve as a conduit between government and rural voters, connecting those who need connection and filling gaps in service delivery where others may fall short.

However, NRP’s mission doesn’t begin and end at the ballot box.

From July to September, we reached more than 100 women through our Beauty Salon Conversations in Hoke and Scotland counties, canvassed more than 36,000 doors and made over 21,000 calls, hearing the critical issues and concerns of our rural communities.

Measuring success in this arena can be nuanced, but for NRP it looks like the 22-year-old new mother who was inspired to vote after attending two Beauty Salon Conversations or the two 24-year-old Black men who canvassed with us and became first-time voters within one week of their employment.

Moreover – and for the first time in our three-year history – NRP endorsed candidates in races that most aligned with our focus issues on education, public safety, healthcare and voting rights. We are proud to confirm that all five candidates in state and local races in which we invested most heavily prevailed, including Governor Josh Stein, Attorney General Jeff Jackson and Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice “Mo” Green. Joshua Ellerbe, one of four county commission candidates NRP backed in Anson and Scotland counties, also won his hard-fought contest.

We also supported Justice Allison Riggs in her re-election bid to the state Supreme Court, a race she won by 734 votes as her opponent tries to disenfranchise 60,000 voters by having their votes tossed, and Rep. Garland Pierce (HD-48), whose victory helped break the Republican supermajority and maintain the only non-Republican seat between Charlotte and the coast.

We know firsthand how hard many of our residents took the recent presidential election results, but we have seen positive, on-the-ground change. I could not be prouder of the work our tireless staff and volunteers accomplished throughout this election cycle to ensure that rural voters were educated about their choices and empowered to participate.

Rural voters (including those who didn’t vote in 2024) helped propel President Donald Trump to his second term, yet their needs and concerns were noticeably absent from the flurry of executive orders he prioritized within hours of his second inauguration. What we didn’t see in those actions were plans to lower the costs of everyday essentials, address the nation’s housing affordability crisis, or improve access to health care—all issues that rural voters vocally championed during the presidential campaign.

Closer to home, we saw the current North Carolina General Assembly members enact laws days before folks who helped break the Supermajority took office in early 2025, we must take action together to ensure that our voices are heard and that our communities are protected.

For instance, North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarships – a Republican-backed, state-funded voucher program for private schools with a waitlist of about 55,000 students – is expected to funnel as much as $625 million from our public schools, while many rural counties don’t even have schools that meet the criteria.

Public education is an essential means for rural communities’ growth and advancement, especially for Black and brown students, many of whom rely on this system as a pathway for socioeconomic mobility. NRP’s work confronts the injustice of the siphoning of public funds from already underfunded schools and their redirection to privately funded schools in the name of “opportunity.” 

This is why NRP remains unwavering in our goal to be a visible, effective and accessible resource for some of the most economically distressed counties in the state, with higher-than-average unemployment rates and declining populations.

We are listening, and rural voices will change North Carolina for the better.

Cynthia L. Wallace is co-founder and executive director of New Rural Project.

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Grassroots Gumption: How Rural Voices Have Changed North Carolina’s Ground Game 
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