SC GOP volunteers help NC party

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina's Republican Party is getting a little help from its friends.

South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly says he's pledging 1,000 volunteers to work phones, knock on doors and register voters in North Carolina.

He says South Carolina is a solidly red state so they can focus on North Carolina.

Barack Obama carried North Carolina in the 2008 presidential election. But this time it will be tough sledding for the president, even though the Democratic National Convention is in Charlotte this summer.

Labor unions, a core Democratic constituency, are up in arms because the convention is being held in a right-to-work state. The state Democratic Party is in disarray over an explosive sexual harassment scandal. And voters recently approved amending the state constitution to ban gay marriage.