Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump will visit North Carolina on Saturday as they work to secure support in the pivotal southeastern state just three days before the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday. This marks the fourth consecutive day Harris and Trump are campaigning in the same state, reflecting the critical importance of the seven swing states that may decide the election, which polls show remains highly competitive.
More than 70 million Americans have already voted, according to data from the University of Florida’s Election Lab. While this is below the record-breaking early-voting turnout of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it still indicates strong voter engagement.
Saturday is also the final day of early voting in North Carolina, where over 3.8 million ballots have been cast as communities in the western part of the state continue to recover from deadly flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
Harris is scheduled to appear in Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, alongside musician Jon Bon Jovi. North Carolina, tied with Georgia as the second-largest battleground prize with 16 electoral votes, supported Trump in 2020 but also elected a Democratic governor, creating optimism for both parties this election cycle.
“We have a chance in this election to move beyond a decade dominated by Donald Trump, who has only deepened divisions among Americans,” Harris told a crowd in Janesville, Wisconsin, on Friday.
Trump will hold a rally in Gastonia, near Charlotte, at noon (1600 GMT) and will return to North Carolina later in the evening to address supporters at the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.
“This election is a choice between another four years of ineptitude and decline or the start of the greatest years in American history,” Trump said in Michigan on Friday.
Harris and Trump differ significantly on policies ranging from support for Ukraine and NATO to abortion rights, immigration, taxes, democracy, and trade.
They campaigned in North Carolina on Wednesday, Nevada on Thursday, and Wisconsin on Friday—each swing states—and held events as close as seven miles (11 km) apart. This underscores the intense effort to sway voters in a handful of battleground states while others are considered reliably Democratic or Republican.
Trump also plans to visit Salem, Virginia, on Saturday, even though polls show Harris leading there.
Harris will additionally campaign in Georgia on Saturday, where filmmaker Spike Lee and singer Victoria Monet will join a rally. President Joe Biden narrowly won Georgia by 0.3 points in 2020, the first Democratic victory there since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Democrats are counting on strong turnout from Black voters in Georgia, who make up about 12% of the population, and are also competing for support from Hispanics, who represent nearly 19% of the state. Polls show Trump leading Harris by 1.6 points in Georgia, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average.
As the campaign enters its final phase, Harris plans coordinated organizing events across all seven battleground states on Monday to mobilize voters, according to a senior campaign representative.
