Takeaways from the campaigning to win over rural voters in swing-state North Carolina

OXFORD, N.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden and Donald Trump have their sights on a handful of battleground states in the White House race, and North Carolina is one of them.

Rural voters in particular will play an important role for both campaigns, but the candidates will have to overcome voter indifference, fatigue and even disgust.

Both Democrats and Republicans hope face-to-face contact will help them make their case. In places like Granville County, a swing county tucked between the Raleigh-Durham area and the Virginia state line, that has already begun.

Here are some key takeaways from an examination of the campaign less than five months before the November general election.

Spending war for North Carolina’s airwaves

When it comes to advertising spending in North Carolina, Democrats are outpacing Republicans by a nearly 4-to-1 margin, according to AdImpact data. As of June 7, Democratic groups had spent more than $4 million compared with about $1 million from Republicans in the state.

That gap widens even further when looking ahead to the fall. For reserved ad slots between June 8 and Election Day, Democrats have spent more than $5.6 million so far, compared with $25,000 reserved by one Republican political action committee. Those reservations are subject to change as races come into focus.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Many voters in swing-state North Carolina are disengaged. Party activists hope to fire them up </bsp-custom-headline>