Harris appears to have put North Carolina back in play in 2024

With Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, Democrats' dreams of capturing North Carolina in November seemed to be fading. But the ascent of Kamala Harris could place the Sun Belt state back as a toss up.

Why it matters: In a sign that the race in North Carolina is tightening, former President Trump has — for the first time — begun spending money on ads in the state , which he will likely need to return to the White House .

• And local Democrats have reported a significant increase in enthusiasm for Harris since Biden dropped out.

State of play: Polls in North Carolina that had showed Trump growing a large lead over Biden now show Harris narrowing the gap — with one Morning Consult poll from late July showing Trump up by 1%.

• The Harris campaign said North Carolina has been one of its largest sources of new volunteers with more than 10,000 people signing up.
• And Democrats have seen an uptick in voter registration in the state since Biden dropped out.

Reality check: North Carolina has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since President Obama in 2008, and the Trump campaign is growing its efforts here.

• Trump won here by 1.3 percentage points four years ago — his smallest margin of any state — and the state's population has grown by nearly 400,000 people since then.

What they're saying: Asher Hildebrand, a political science professor at Duke University, said Harris' entry has, at least for now, brought an excitement level to the Democratic base — especially among younger voters — that is somewhat reminiscent of 2008.

• "It appears, at a minimum, that Biden was dragging the ticket down," he told Axios, "and that Biden's exit and Harris' entry into the race have reverted it back to where we expected it to be."
• "The question is now, can she also appeal to the more moderate independent voters who have been essential to, for example, [Gov.] Roy Cooper's election in the last couple of cycles," he added.

Zoom in: Democrats have been counting on turning out voters who've recently moved to the state and highlighting what they see as GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson's extreme record and tying him to Trump, Axios' Sophia Cai writes.

• The campaign has also emphasized reaching out to independent and Republican voters in suburban counties like Union and Johntson, noting that Nikki Haley got 23.3% of the GOP primary voters in the state.
• This week, the Harris campaign also unveiled the group "Republicans for Harris," using former GOP voters and elected officials as a surrogates.