The North Carolina U.S. Senate race between Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan and Republican Rep. Thom Tillis has been locked at a virtual dead heat. But door-to-door campaigning during the home stretch could determine the outcome of the race.

Advocacy groups geared towards the environment, women's rights, abortion, and taxes and spending plied the streets of North Carolina districts this weekend to make personal contact and engage with constituents who usually sit out the midterm elections.

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Campaign organizers claim the personal connection from grassroots-level campaigning could be a welcome reprieve for constituents who may have grown tired of the nightly barrage of TV ads the country's most expensive Senate race has produced.

Personal interaction has a greater impact than just "shoving ads" in people's faces, said Nick Rivers, canvass director of the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund of North Carolina.

According to Women's Speak Out state director Tami Fitzgerald, voter turnout will likely play a key role in determining the outcome in the polls. The PAC has been campaigning on the ground since April and has to date, knocked on over 140,000 doors and made some 250,000 phone calls.

Carmen Maddrey, a school teacher in Burlington, knocked on doors on Saturday and rallied support for Tillis on behalf of the anti-abortion political action committee Women's Speak Out.

Fitzgerald said the rallies are not specifically aimed at getting Tillis elected but rather, focuses more the fighting for women's rights, including that of the unborn child.

"This is not about Republicans, Democrats or Independents," she declared.

Likewise, abortion-rights PAC Planned Parenthood Votes rallied support for Hagan on the ground this weekend, also stressing that the main goal was simply to get the vote.

Hagan has always been a staunch defender of women's rights, said Cecile Richards of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

By going door-to-door, we are ensuring that the voters, particularly those who don't always go to the midterms, are aware of what's at stake and how important their votes really are, she said.

The committee has reportedly knocked on more than 290,000 doors.

TagsNorth Carolina, Senate, Kay Hagan, Thom Tillis, election, women's rights, Abortion, Women's Speak Out, Planned Parenthood Votes, PAC, politics