Trump Harris North Carolina/ 2024 presidential election North Carolina/ swing state election rally/ Harris Trump campaign/ U.S. election battlegrounds/ Newslooks/ CHARLOTTE/ North Carolina/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump will visit North Carolina on Saturday, focusing on winning the battleground state in the final weekend before Election Day. With both campaigns working hard to rally support, North Carolina’s electoral votes are seen as critical in a close race.
Trump and Harris Head to North Carolina in Final Campaign Push: Quick Looks
- Election Countdown: Harris and Trump visit North Carolina three days before Election Day.
- Early Voting Surge: Over 3.8 million votes cast in North Carolina, with early voting ending Saturday.
- Campaign Events: Harris to appear with Jon Bon Jovi in Charlotte; Trump to rally in Gastonia and Greensboro.
- Polls and Stakes: The tight race underscores North Carolina’s 16 crucial electoral votes.
- Swing State Focus: Both candidates visited North Carolina, Nevada, and Wisconsin this week to sway undecided voters.
Kamala Harris Charlotte rally to feature Bon Jovi and Khalid
Deep Look
With just three days remaining until the U.S. presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are intensifying their efforts in North Carolina, a battleground state with 16 critical electoral votes that both campaigns are eager to secure. Their Saturday visits mark the fourth consecutive day that Harris and Trump have campaigned in the same state, a testament to the razor-thin polling margins in North Carolina and other pivotal swing states.
Harris, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, is scheduled to appear in Charlotte alongside musician Jon Bon Jovi. North Carolina, which awarded its electoral votes to Trump in 2020 but elected a Democratic governor, remains highly competitive. Both campaigns are hopeful for a victory here, with the state tying Georgia as one of the second-largest electoral prizes among the swing states.
Meanwhile, Trump, the Republican nominee, will hold two rallies in North Carolina. His first event will be in Gastonia, located just west of Charlotte, followed by a large evening rally at the 22,000-seat First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro. Trump’s return to North Carolina comes as his campaign aims to counter Harris’s influence in the state, where voter enthusiasm remains high. According to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, over 70 million Americans have already cast early ballots nationwide, reflecting strong voter engagement, even if it is slightly below the early-voting record set during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
The significance of these campaign stops is underscored by the sharp policy contrasts between Harris and Trump on key issues like abortion rights, immigration, economic tariffs, and support for Ukraine and NATO. Harris has emphasized unity and moving past the “decade of Donald Trump,” as she stated at a Wisconsin rally on Friday, while Trump is presenting the election as a choice between “four more years of gross incompetence” and what he promises will be the “four greatest years” in U.S. history.
Saturday marks the final day of early voting in North Carolina, where more than 3.8 million people have already voted. Western parts of the state are still recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which caused devastating floods in recent weeks, possibly influencing voter turnout in those areas.
While North Carolina remains a top focus, both campaigns are making stops in other swing states over the weekend. Harris’s team has organized an event in Georgia with film director Spike Lee and singer Victoria Monét to energize support in a state where Democrats are relying heavily on Black voter turnout to recreate President Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 win. Georgia, where Black voters make up over 12% of the population and Hispanic voters around 19%, is another tight race, with Trump holding a slight 1.6-point lead over Harris in recent polls, according to FiveThirtyEight.
On Saturday, Trump will also visit Salem, Virginia, despite polling favoring Harris there, showing that he is looking to rally support even in states where the odds may not be in his favor. Harris and Trump were both recently in Nevada, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, all within the same week, underscoring the focus on a few decisive swing states as both campaigns target a relatively small but crucial number of undecided voters in the final days of the race.
Both campaigns are making final mobilization efforts to secure every possible vote. Harris’s campaign has announced plans for a “final push” on Monday, organizing interconnected events across all seven battleground states to rally last-minute support. The Monday effort aims to tap into the energy of the campaign’s grassroots network to maximize turnout on Election Day.
As the race heads into its final stretch, North Carolina remains a major battleground, with both parties eager to secure a state that could prove pivotal in a closely contested election. With both Harris and Trump heavily focused on turning out their base, the stakes are high as Election Day draws near.
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