Harris makes first postdebate stop in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ( NewsNation ) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making a beeline for swing states that they hope to flip in their favor this year, both of them trying to expand their narrow paths to victory in a closely fought presidential campaign.

Harris has her sights set on North Carolina, where she scheduled rallies in Charlotte and Greensboro on Thursday, her first political events after she buoyed supporters with her performance in Tuesday’s debate. Her team is working to turn key moments from the debate into new television and digital advertising and promising more travel in battleground states.

Democrats haven’t won North Carolina’s electoral votes since 2008, when President Barack Obama was elected for the first time. However, Trump’s 2020 margin of victory of 1.3% was his narrowest win of any state that year, and Democrats hope that North Carolina’s growing and diversifying population will give them an edge this time.

Harris’s campaign said Thursday’s trip would be her ninth to the state this year, and recent polls show a tight race. More than two dozen combined campaign offices — supporting Harris and the rest of the party’s candidates — have been opened, and popular Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is one of her top surrogates.

Republicans have been confident about Trump’s chances in the state, and the former president held rallies there in August.

Registered independents — known in North Carolina as unaffiliated — are the state’s largest voting bloc and are usually key to determining outcomes in statewide elections. A state Supreme Court ruling this week affirming that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must be removed from North Carolina ballots could bring additional votes Trump’s way given Kennedy’s endorsement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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