We’re building North Carolina’s Democratic bench one town at a time.
The Basics
There are over 1,700 municipal seats up for election in North Carolina in 2025. In many of these towns, Republicans run candidates who win low-turnout, low-information races uncontested and go on to become the next generation of Republican legislators and officials. You can help us change that.
Bench Builders is working to recruit Democrats to contest 167 municipal ra ces across 71 North Carolina towns. Then, we:
The Plan
The Democratic brand is at a low point nationally—but not here in North Carolina. After major wins in the Council of State, the state legislature, and the Supreme Court, Democrats have forward momentum. Despite that, party membership levels are too low.
Enter Bench Builders. We aim to recruit, train, and run candidates in low information, low turnout elections statewide—places where Republicans too often coast to election unchallenged, but where the formal apparatus of the Democratic Party can’t always justify diverting limited resources from frontline races.
We’re not contesting races in urban Democratic powerhouses. We’re focused on efficiency: running and electing as many Democrats as possible in races below the radar to help build out the next generation of leaders. Republicans are great at this! It’s time for Democrats to be, too.
When we elect Democrats to local government, we get leaders who supply top-notch constituent services, secure local wins, and stay in frequent contact with their electorate. Those leaders—like our leaders here at Bench Builders—become ambassadors for a responsive, service-oriented Democratic party. That’s the pathway to increasing Democratic party membership and boosting the margins for races further up the ticket.
This program can’t stop with elections—and it won’t. We will support successful candidates with ongoing constituent services support, policy packages, and staff resources, making sure that residents keep hearing from candidates after they win. And win or lose, we’ll work with our candidates to leverage the connections they’ve built and experience they’ve gained into a cross-platform content network that can fight back against the conservative media advantage. That’s why we need you.
The People
Bench Builders is led by a slate of locally-elected Democratic officials who are putting the Bench Builders method to work right in their communities, serving as ambassadors for our party to our constituents. Together, we bring significant combined experience with both winning local elections and governing effectively after the fact.
The Money
Your dollars will provide the funds we need to put our plan into action—in 2025, we have the opportunity to support an initial slate of candidates by removing many of the barriers to running for local office.
Bench Builders can help good candidates run by funding direct mail, providing candidate branding and financial compliance staff (to eliminate the need for a local treasurer—one of the biggest hindrances to running!), covering event costs, and making direct contributions to candidates.
