Trump, Harris head to North Carolina to clinch support

WASHINGTON:  Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump head to North Carolina on Saturday to try to clinch support in the southeastern battleground state just three days before U.S. presidential election.

It will be the fourth day in a row that Vice President Harris and former President Trump visit the same state on the same day, underlining the critical importance of the seven states likely to decide the race, which opinion polls show to be on a knife’s edge.

Over 70 million Americans have already cast ballots, according to the Election Lab, opens new tab at the University of Florida, below the record early-voting pace in 2020 during COVID-19, but still indicating a high level of voter enthusiasm.

Saturday also marks the last day of early voting in North Carolina, where over 3.8 million votes have been cast, while the state’s western reaches are still recovering from Hurricane Helene’s deadly flooding.

Harris plans appearances with rock star Jon Bon Jovi in Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina, which is tied with Georgia for the second-biggest prize of the swing states. Each has 16 votes in the Electoral College, where 270 are needed to secure the presidency.

North Carolina backed Trump in 2020 but elected a Democratic governor on the same day, giving hope to both parties.

“We have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump, who has spent full time trying to have the American people point fingers at each other,” Harris said at a rally in Janesville, Wisconsin, on Friday.

Trump will hold a rally in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, at noon (1600 GMT) before returning to the state in the evening, where he is due to speak at the 22,000-seat First Horizon Coliseum arena in Greensboro.

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