Republicans take voter registration lead from Democrats in crucial swing state for the first time

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Republicans have officially surpassed Democrats in North Carolina voter registration for the first time in the state’s history, marking a dramatic political shift in one of the nation’s most closely watched battleground states and a development Republicans tell Fox News Digital shows the effectiveness of the Trump agenda.

Over the weekend, North Carolina State Board of Elections data showed registered Republicans now slightly outnumber registered Democrats statewide. As of early January, the state reports approximately 2.315 million registered Republicans compared to 2.313 million registered Democrats, giving the GOP a narrow but historic edge.

"Republicans are crushing Democrats’ voter registration advantage in North Carolina and taking control statewide thanks to Michael Whatley’s leadership," RNC Chairman Joe Gruters exclusively told Fox News Digital. 

"President Trump’s America First agenda is winning. Democrats are failing, their out-of-touch liberal agenda is being rejected, and voters are done with Roy Cooper and Josh Stein." 

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Voters inside a North Carolina polling place. (Getty)

Whatley, the former chair of the RNC who is now running for Senate as a Republican in North Carolina, told Fox News Digital that the development signals that voters in the Tar Heel State want a "strong economy with more jobs, bigger paychecks, and lower costs."

"That’s why they’ve voted for President Donald Trump three straight times and why thousands are continuing to leave Roy Cooper’s Democrat Party," Whatley added.

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President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event, Dec.19, 2025, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

"Democrats couldn’t win Senate races here even when they had a cash advantage and a huge voter-registration edge. Now they’ve lost that registration advantage too, and voters are making it clear they’re done with failed Democrat leadership."

The voter registration milestone represents a significant reversal from just a decade ago. In November 2016, Democrats held a voter registration advantage of more than 645,000 voters over Republicans. Since then, the gap has steadily closed as Democratic registrations declined and Republican numbers continued to grow.

The registration momentum follows a series of high-profile political events in the state, including Trump’s visit to Rocky Mount in December, which energized GOP activists and coincided with intensified voter registration efforts.

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"Voters across North Carolina are rejecting the Democrats’ failed agenda and choosing Republican leadership," NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson told Fox News Digital. 

"This shift didn’t happen overnight, it’s the result of years of good commonsense Republican governance and our focus on offering serious solutions on the issues that matter to the people. We’re going to keep earning voters’ trust and building on this momentum."

Despite the GOP milestone, unaffiliated voters remain the largest bloc on North Carolina’s voter rolls, totaling nearly 3 million registrants. Political analysts have noted that both parties will continue to compete aggressively for these voters, who often decide close statewide races, and some have suggested the shift is driven less by GOP gains than by long-term structural and strategic changes along with younger voters rejecting political labels.

Madison Andrus, a DCCC spokesperson, told Fox News Digital the GOP's "share of registered voters" over the last several decades has not grown significantly "despite their repeated attempts at gerrymandering the state to subvert the will of voters."

"Now, with this latest scheme top of mind, voters across the state are souring on Republicans' failing agenda that has led to higher grocery prices, more expensive health care, and greater difficulty making ends meet. Republicans have abandoned North Carolina’s working families and people are taking notice."

Trump has won North Carolina all three times he ran for president, the only presidential candidate in the modern era to do so, but low propensity MAGA voters and other Trump supporters don't always head to the polls in elections when the president's not on the ballot, which is a major concern for Republicans heading into next year's midterms in addition to historical trends showing the party not in power usually performs well in midterms.

That's why Whatley, a former state GOP chair whom Trump handpicked in 2024 to run the RNC and urged this summer to run for the Senate, would love to see the president return to the state numerous times in 2025.

"He is fantastically popular in North Carolina," Whatley recently told Fox News Digital in an interview. "He has a real affinity for the state. The voters... love him, and it'll be very, very good to get him back in North Carolina."

DNC Vice Chair for Civic Engagement Reyna Walters Morgan told Fox News Digital in a statement that Democrats are "making substantial inroads in North Carolina" including big wins in 2024 in the races for governor, lieutenant governor and other top positions, making it "clear North Carolina Republicans are scared and on defense."

"Democrats are ready to continue to win in 2026 and the momentum in North Carolina is on our side."

Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report