Presidential campaigns ramp up focus on NC in final weeks of election

With early voting now underway in North Carolina, the Harris and Trump campaigns are increasing their visits to the key battleground state — one that has been far from ignored already.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, will head to Greenville for a rally Monday. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, was in Raleigh and Greenville this past weekend.

In the meantime, Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is on his way to visit Durham and Charlotte — two key Democratic strongholds — on Thursday for the first day of early voting. Tagging along with Walz is former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton and Walz will stay in North Carolina for four straight days. They’ll be in Wilmington and Fayetteville on Friday, then on Saturday they have events in Fayetteville, Wilson and Greenville. On Sunday they’ll be in Rocky Mount and then Raleigh, before heading out.

Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, also has an event planned in Durham Thursday night — a conversation at Durham Performing Arts Center moderated by author John Grisham, who has a home in Chapel Hill.

The Trump campaign launched a bus tour throughout the state, which won’t feature appearances by Trump or his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance but will feature several political insiders who held top jobs in the Trump administration. Other figures such as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi are also expected to make some appearances.

The Trump bus tour will visit Rutherfordton, Gastonia, Archdale and Raleigh on Thursday. Friday will see stops in Jacksonville, Winterville and Goldsboro.

The two campaigns’ heavy focus on eastern North Carolina towns such as Greenville, Goldsboro, Rocky Mount and Wilson also serves a second purpose: Motivating voters in the state’s only competitive U.S. House race, the 1st District, which stretches from the outskirts of the Triangle to the Outer Banks.

WRAL reported Wednesday that incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Davis has a financial advantage over Republican Laurie Buckhout heading into the final weeks of the election.

But the district — newly redrawn by GOP state lawmakers ahead of this year’s election — would’ve voted slightly to the right of the state as a whole in the 2022 midterms. It’s expected to be a tossup this year, and whoever wins could also help determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives starting in 2025.

Republicans currently hold the majority, but by just two seats. And there are only a few dozen competitive House seats in the nation, out of the 435 total seats.