RALEIGH, North Carolina, USA — Donald Trump will rally with supporters in North Carolina every day until Tuesday’s election, in a late series of events in the only swing state he won by both in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
Although the mogul seeks to expand the electoral map and project strength with trips to New Mexico and Virginia, two Democratic states not considered widely competitive, he is spending considerable time in North Carolina, which last supported a Democrat for president in 2008.
The former president’s path to obtaining the 270 electoral votes he needs to become president would be significantly complicated if he loses North Carolina. The prosperous southern state gave Trump his smallest margin of victory of 1.3 percentage points over Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.
Trump will campaign Saturday in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, and Greensboro, with a stop in Salem, Virginia, in between. On Sunday he will be in the eastern city of Kinston and on Monday in Raleigh. These four rallies will bring the total number of events in North Carolina since October 1 to nine. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been to the state six times in that same period, most recently on Friday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival, will also be in North Carolina on Saturday for a concert and rally in Charlotte. His campaign team has not announced any further trips to the state before Election Day.
The profound damage caused by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina has created a dose of uncertainty about the state of the race. The floods destroyed homes and displaced residents in several counties, including the liberal city of Asheville and the conservative rural areas surrounding it.
Trump’s team has said it is confident in its chances in North Carolina. For Democrats, Trump’s focus on the state is a sign of optimism for Harris.
“Repeated appearances could indicate that the Trump campaign is in trouble,” said Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham. “If Trump continues his dangerous and violent rhetoric these past few days, it could backfire. “A personal retribution campaign doesn’t get people votes.”
Trump adviser Jason Miller said the campaign’s latest trips are not a red flag.
“I’m not worried at all,” Miller told reporters Friday. “We have a smart strategy that is going to take President Trump beyond 270, maybe even sneak in a couple of states that will surprise you. But we will continue our strategy. “Our strategy comes from our data and our approach.”
About half of North Carolina’s 7.8 million registered voters had already voted as of Friday, buoyed by early in-person voting, which ends Saturday afternoon.
North Carolina Republicans have been encouraged by early voter turnout among their supporters after the party’s national and state leaders this year adopted a “lock your vote” strategy rather than focusing on turnout. on election day.
In the final days of the campaign, Republican registered voters who had voted early or absentee outnumbered Democrats by more than 50,000, although statewide there are more than 100,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, according to state election data . It’s unclear whether the increase in Republican early voting will produce higher overall turnout for Trump supporters.
Independent voters are now the largest group of registered voters in North Carolina. Trump lost ground with independents between 2016 and 2020.
The state’s voters have shown a propensity to split their vote over the years. That’s why, while Republicans have controlled the state legislature since 2011, Democrats have held the governor’s mansion for all but four years since 1993.
Republican hopes of breaking that hold on Tuesday appeared to dwindle in recent weeks after the party’s candidate for governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, received unwanted publicity from a CNN report alleging that he made racially charged posts and explicit sexual messages on a pornographic website message board more than a decade ago.
Although Robinson denied writing the messages and sued CNN for defamation last month, his campaign nearly collapsed, raising fears that a big victory for Democrat Josh Stein, the state attorney general, could hurt Republican candidates in other races. .
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Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Detroit and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
