What do Dave Matthews and Rick Scott have in common? Hint: It's about NC voter turnout

North Carolina voters can expect some high profile visitors over the next few weeks as the 2022 election season crescendos.

Dave Matthews, the jam band singer, songwriter and guitarist, will perform at a free get-out-the-vote rally for Democratic Senate nominee Cheri Beasley Oct. 25 in Raleigh. Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison will be there as well, according to the Beasley campaign.

Beasley's Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, will welcome Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to Greensboro Thursday for his own get-out-the-vote rally. Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel will be there as well, according to the RNC.

The Beasley campaign plans to bring Michigan U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and South Carolina U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn to North Carolina Wednesday.

Clyburn, the House majority whip for Democrats, is making the rounds this week in North Carolina, also campaigning with state Sen. Don Davis in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District and Sen. Wiley Nickel in the 13th Congressional District. It's common for Congressional leadership to visit. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy came to Wake County in August for Bo Hines, who is running against Nickel.

Budd was in Charlotte Monday with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Former President Donald Trump visited Wilmington last month. The campaign said sens. Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, as well as former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, would visit soon.

Political events featuring nationally known entertainers, politicians or the like tend to ramp up at the tail end of a campaign cycle. North Carolina's early voting period starts Thursday.

"It's completely focused on turnout," Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer said. "It's an attempt to keep the energy level at a high pace."

Most voters will probably vote early, instead of waiting for the traditional Election Day, which falls on Nov. 8 this year, Bitzer said. Bringing in politicians and celebrities helps draw attention and nudges your base to vote.

That turnout typically drops from a presidential election year to the midterms. Total North Carolina turnout in the last midterm elections, 2018, was 53%.