Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump kicked off their last Saturday before the presidential election within mere blocks of each other in Milwaukee, only to find themselves parked on the same tarmac several hours later in Charlotte, where their planes landed just a few hundred yards apart.
It marked the fourth day in a row that the candidates were campaigning in the same state—a sign of the relatively small playing field as the highly competitive race nears its finish line and only a handful of states are seen as competitive.
Trump rallied a crowd in Gastonia, N.C. by warning that the “suburbs are under attack”. Hours later, Harris addressed a crowd at a rally in the heart of Democratic-leaning Mecklenburg County, roughly 35 miles away, casting Trump as “increasingly unstable” and obsessed with personal grievances rather than the well-being of the American public. “This is not someone who is thinking about how to make your life better,” Harris said.
The candidates’ contrasting approaches highlighted the stakes of the election in North Carolina, a pivotal battleground with a history of flipping between parties. Early voting in the state ended on Saturday afternoon, and polling shows a tight race within the margin of error, making it essential for both campaigns to mobilize their bases and sway undecided voters with three days left in the election. “Please talk to your friends, your family and your neighbors,” Harris said, encouraging those who had already cast their ballots to advocate for turnout among others. “To those who have not voted, no judgment, but please do get to it.”
In North Carolina, the Harris campaign has been focused on building a coalition of voters that extends beyond traditional Democratic strongholds, targeting independents and moderate Republicans who may be disillusioned with Trump’s rhetoric, a campaign official says. Her closing argument in the state was aimed at reassuring voters that her administration would prioritize their concerns over partisan conflicts. “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy,” she said.
Harris addressed abortion rights, linking North Carolina’s strict abortion laws to Trump’s appointment of three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. “One in three women lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban, including North Carolina,” she said, eliciting a wave of boos from the crowd. “We all remember how we got here,” she added, pointing to Trump’s role in shaping the current judicial landscape. Abortion is still legal in North Carolina, but is banned after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape or incest or to protect the life of the woman. Several Harris rally attendees who were interviewed said that protecting reproductive rights was their top priority when it came to backing a candidate.
As she spoke, the rally was intermittently interrupted by protests regarding the U.S. response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Demonstrators unfurled banners and shouted slogans, but Harris turned the interruptions into an opportunity to reinforce her commitment to democracy. “It’s alright, y’all,” Harris said. “Democracy can be complicated. This is what democracy looks like.”
“We all want that war in the Middle East to end,” Harris added. “We want the hostages home, and when I am president, I will do everything in my power to make it so.”
North Carolina supported Trump by less than 1.5 percentage points in 2020, but shifting demographics have made the state increasingly competitive for Democrats. Democratic strategists view Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located, as crucial to securing the state’s electoral votes, given that it holds more registered Democrats than 53 other counties in the state combined. Turnout in the county, however, was lower than the state average in 2022, making it a key focal point for the Harris campaign.
“I believe we’re at a crossroads of America that we want to create for our future,” says Maria Thrasher, a 54-year-old small business owner from south of Charlotte who considers herself an independent voter, but is supporting Harris this cycle. “I’m concerned for my daughter. I’m concerned for my nieces and the girls that are coming behind us and them having less rights than my grandmother and my mother’s generation.”
North Carolina has not been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since Barack Obama in 2008.
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