UNION COUNTY, N.C. -- Union County could be key for Republican candidate Dan Bishop if he hopes to win the special election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District.

The county is a long-time Republican stronghold. The Republican candidate in last fall’s congressional matchup, Mark Harris, got 59 percent of the vote there. Recent Republican presidential candidates have done even better in the county. Allison Powers, the local chair of the Republican Party, describes her county as “very important.”

“Union County has a lot of Republican voters, and [candidates] often count on Union County to make up for deficits of Republican voters in other counties,” she said. Powers said the county party is making phone calls and posting online, urging voters to head to the polls to help push Bishop over the edge.

The special election was called after an investigation into apparent absentee ballot fraud during the 2018 election. Harris hired the political operative at the center of that apparent fraud operation. Harris ultimately declined to enter the new race, and voters later selected Bishop as the GOP candidate in May.

Bishop is facing off against Democrat Dan McCready, who got 39 percent of the vote in Union County last fall. The chair of the county Democrats, Pam DeMaria, says they are going door to door in hopes of encouraging voters to consider McCready. DeMaria says healthcare is an important issue in the county, and she hopes McCready’s ideas will resonate.

“I think people want to know exactly how, if Dan gets elected, how he’s going to help their lives. And that’s what we try to focus on,” she said. Early voting is already underway across the 9th District, but that does not mean everyone has made up their mind about who to pick. Several Union County voters who spoke with Spectrum News expressed frustration about the state of the race, especially the campaign ads.

“I’m very undecided. They take hot shots at each other, which I think is terrible,” said Polly Bostic of Wingate.

“The ads and everything that you’re hearing, whether you want to or not, are all about negativity and we need to move past that,” said Vivian Roberts of Monroe. Others have made up their minds, including Shirley Baucom of Monroe. She said she is supporting Bishop, citing his conservative background.

“I just believe that he is more in line with what we believe government should be,” she said.

Election Day is Tuesday, Sept. 10.