Trump will spend every day until the election in North Carolina, a swing state he has won twice

RALEIGH, NC – Donald Trump will rally supporters daily in North Carolina leading up to Tuesday’s election, following late activity in the only swing state it won in the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Even as Trump wants to expand the electoral map and the strength of the project trips to New Mexico and Virginiatwo Democratic states that are not widely seen as competitive, he devotes a lot of time to North Carolina, which last supported a Democrat in the presidential election in 2008.

The former president’s path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency will become much more difficult if he loses North Carolina. The fast-growing Southern state gave Trump the smallest margin of victory – 1.3 percentage points – over Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.

On Saturday, Trump will campaign in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, and Greensboro, with a stop in Salem, Virginia, in between. He’ll be in Kinston on the east side on Sunday and in Raleigh on Monday. These four rallies will bring him all the events in North Carolina from October 1st through October 9th. His running mate, Ohio state Sen. J.D. Vance, has been to the state six times during the same period, most recently on Friday.

Vice President Kamala HarrisTrump’s Democratic rival will also be in North Carolina for a concert and rally in Charlotte. Her campaign has not announced any other trips to the state before Election Day.

Extensive damage from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina he created dose of uncertainty about the state of affairs here. Floods destroyed homes and displaced residents in several counties, including the liberal city of Asheville and surrounding conservative rural areas.

Trump’s team expressed confidence in his chances in North Carolina. Democrats see Trump’s focus on the state as a signal of optimism for Harris.

“The repeated speeches could signal that the Trump campaign is in trouble,” said Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham. “If Trump continues his dangerous and violent rhetoric over the last few days, it could backfire. A campaign of personal revenge does not win people’s votes.”

Trump adviser Jason Miller said Trump’s late-campaign travel is not a wake-up call.

“I’m not worried about anything,” Miller told reporters Friday. “We have a smart strategy that will get President Trump to 270 and maybe even a few states that will surprise you that will slip in there. However, we will stick to our strategy. Our strategy is based on our data and our targeting.”

Roughly half of North Carolina’s 7.8 million registered voters had already voted on Friday, fueled by early personal voting, which will end on Saturday afternoon.

North Carolina Republicans were encouraged by early voter turnout among their supporters after GOP leaders at the national and state level switched to a “pass your vote” strategy this year instead of focusing on Election Day turnout.

In the final days of the campaign, more than 50,000 more registered GOP voters than Democrats voted early or by mail, even though there are more than 100,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans statewide, according to state election data. It is unclear whether the earlier increase in Republican votes will translate into higher overall turnout among Trump supporters.

Independent voters currently constitute the largest group of registered voters in North Carolina. From 2016 to 2020, Trump lost ground among independents.

Over the years, the state’s voters have shown a willingness to share their seats. That’s why Republicans have controlled the state legislature since 2011 and Democrats have held the governor’s mansion since 1993 with all but four years.

The GOP’s hopes of breaking that policy on Tuesday have dimmed in recent weeks after the party’s candidate for governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, received unwanted publicity over a CNN report alleging he made explicit posts on a pornographic website’s messages. racist and sexual board over a decade ago.

Although Robinson has denied writing the news and sued CNN for defamation last month, his campaign almost collapsed, raising concerns that a big victory for Democrat Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general, could hurt GOP 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.