RNC, Trump Campaign Outperforming 2012 Ground Game

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and 2016 Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign are bragging to reporters about their ground game efforts and early voter turnout in several key battleground states.

Trump’s Deputy Campaign Manager David Bossie says the RNC and the Trump campaign have been working closely together on every aspect of voter turnout, describing the joint effort as an “incredible team working together.”

RNC Political Director Chris Carr also joined the media call, telling reporters the RNC is “encouraged” about the process on early voter turnout.

“We surpassed the number of door knocks this cycle,” Carr touted, noting that in 2012, the RNC knocked on 11.5 million doors, but during the 2016 cycle, they have hit 12 million doors.

In Maricopa County, Arizona — the largest county in Arizona — Republicans hold a seven percent lead on early voter turnout.

In Iowa, Republicans are participating in more absentee and early voting this election cycle. According to Carr, Republicans’ absentee and early voter turnout is 1.2 percent higher than in 2012, while the Democrats are behind their 2012 mark by 1.4 percent.

“Also, in the Omaha media market, Republican women are voting early, in greater numbers, than the Democrat women, 49 percent to 32 percent,” he added.

Carr also noted that in North Carolina, Republicans have extended the lead on absentee ballots returned, 41 percent to 33 percent.

Regarding the battleground state of Florida, Republicans have improved early voting numbers compared to 2012.

During the first four days of early voting in 2012, Democrats led Republicans by 115,000 early votes, but in 2016, Republicans are only trailing Democrats by 38,000 early votes. “So, Republicans are out performing our 2012 turnout by 10 percent, while Democrats are underperforming by eight percent,” Car explained.

These numbers from several key states reference the number of registered Republican and registered Democratic voters that are turning out for early voting — not the actual voting results.