Trump’s ground game shrinks voter registration gap in key battlegrounds

The campaign for former President Donald Trump said it is giving “maximum attention and resources” to its ground game in battleground states, and it’s working.

In key battleground states where voters register by party, and where the margins in 2020 were razor-thin, Republicans have cut into Democrats’ voter registration advantage — in some cases by hundreds of thousands of registered voters. 

During the 2020 election cycle in Pennsylvania, there were approximately 685,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. But going into Election Day 2024, that gap has been cut down significantly, with approximately 343,000 more Democratic voters than Republicans, according to the Trump campaign, which said it compiled the data from secretaries of state offices in Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona.

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Similarly, in Nevada, there were 87,000 more Democratic voters in 2020 than Republicans. But going into Election Day 2024, there are just 19,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. 

North Carolina shows a similar shrinking gap for 2024, with just 126,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, down from the 391,000 Democratic voters last cycle. 

And in Arizona, by the end of July, there were 259,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, doubling the GOP advantage since 2020.

“Everyone who will vote in this election has lived through both administrations, and President Trump wins the comparison easily over Kamala Harris,” Trump campaign senior adviser Tim Murtaugh told Fox News Digital. “The election will be won by those who show up, and that’s where the ground game comes in, which has been a combined effort of the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, and many Republican allies.” 

Murtaugh told Fox News Digital that the “Democrats’ massive lead in voter registration in key states is gone.” 

“And in states where the winner will be decided by mere percentage points, it could make all the difference,” Murtaugh said. 

Neither the Harris campaign nor the Democratic National Committee (DNC) immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

The Trump campaign’s joint-ground game efforts are continuing to expand, but it is focusing its “Get Out the Vote” efforts on low propensity voters and encouraging voters to vote early. 

Across battleground states, the Trump campaign and RNC have hundreds of paid staff, with more than 300 Trump/GOP offices. 

In July, the Trump campaign launched its “Trump Force 47” grassroots effort to recruit new voters. 

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

The program, which the campaign says is focused on mobilizing “highly-targeted voters in critical precincts across the battleground states and districts,” has already engaged tens of thousands of volunteers. 

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Trump campaign officials told Fox News Digital they already have more than 27,000 trained Trump Force 47 captains and continue to train daily, adding thousands per week. 

The efforts stretch beyond the Trump Force 47 leaders, with hundreds of thousands more volunteers for phone banking, canvassing, postcard writing, community organizing and poll watching. 

The joint effort and the Trump Force 47 model are focused on spending “maximum attention and resources” on turning out infrequent or “sometimes voters,” the campaign said.

“We put a high premium on personal contacts with voters that are less likely to participate in the election and are more disconnected from politics than high propensity or persistent voters,” a campaign official told Fox News Digital. 

Campaign officials also said they are focused on “meeting voters where they are” more than ever before. 

“From traditional voter canvassing like calls, doors, post cards, mail, to TikTok, to outside groups, our efforts to reach voters have never been more modern or efficient,” the official said. 

Fox News Digital has learned that the Trump campaign’s allied efforts will knock on approximately 15 million doors in the voting window across battleground states. 

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Wilmington International Airport in Wilmington, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.  (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

The Trump campaign’s field efforts have been focused on volume, where its in-house program is focused on reaching voters that were previously missed or less politically engaged. 

“We have to get our voters to do what they always do — show up at the polls and vote,” the official said. 

Meanwhile, specifically in Pennsylvania, Team Trump is registering voters at doors, campaign rallies, grocery stores, sporting stores, places of worship, college tailgates and more. 

Officials told Fox News Digital that the team is reaching out to voters of all backgrounds through a wide variety of communities, including Hispanic voters, Jewish voters, Black voters, young voters and senior voters. 

“President Trump is well positioned to win in November thanks to our robust ground efforts and vast coalition of supporters and endorsers,” an official said. 

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New polls published by The New York Times and Siena College on Monday showed Trump has gained a lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona, putting the former president at 50 and Harris at 45. Trump is also ahead in Georgia, 49 to 45, and North Carolina, 49-45. 

A RealClearPolitics Average shows Harris leading Trump by less than a point in Pennsylvania, and it shows Trump and Harris are tied in Nevada.