After the first debate, both US Vice President Harris and former President Trump participated in the 9/11 memorial events and then headed straight to the swing states that could decide the election outcome. With less than two months left until the 2024 election, both camps are working hard to turn the tide.
Trump attended a campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona on Thursday afternoon in hopes of stabilizing his election prospects after Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee. The competition between Trump and Harris has been ongoing for nearly two months.
Harris, on the other hand, has set her sights on North Carolina and will hold rallies in Charlotte and Greensboro on Thursday, following her better-than-expected performance in the debate on Tuesday. Harris’ team is working on translating her key moments from the debate into new TV and digital ad presentations, promising to conduct more campaign activities in swing states.
In presidential elections, Arizona is a state where local election results can make a significant impact. Republicans have almost always won Arizona in every presidential election since World War II, but Biden narrowly won the state in 2020.
The rise of Democrats in Arizona is credited to incoming immigrants from blue states and suburban voters, especially educated women.
While Republicans still outnumber Democrats in Arizona, one-third of voters are independents. Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, appeared last week with influential conservative youth group founder Charlie Kirk in a Republican-majority area in the Phoenix metropolitan region.
According to USA Today, Trump is scheduled to speak about “our struggling economy and rising housing costs” at a rally in Tucson, more than a hundred miles south of Phoenix.
Two weeks ago, Trump held a press conference in Arizona where he criticized Harris for the crisis of illegal immigration at the southern border and later hosted a rally in a former hockey arena in the Phoenix area.
Reports from the Associated Press state that Trump will head to Los Angeles on Thursday evening for a fundraising event and will then plan to address the media on Friday morning, raise more funds in the Bay Area, and continue to Las Vegas, Nevada for another rally.
North Carolina is also one of the critical swing states. Since Obama’s first win in 2008, Democrats have not won electoral votes in North Carolina.
Republicans have been confident in Trump’s chances of winning in the state, as the former president held a campaign rally there in August. Trump won by a narrow margin of 1.3 points in 2020, the smallest victory margin in all states that year.
Democrats are hopeful that the growing and diverse population of North Carolina will give them an advantage in this election.
Harris’ campaign team stated that Thursday’s itinerary will mark her 9th visit to the state this year.
Recent polls show that the two presidential candidates are neck and neck. Currently, the offices supporting Harris and other Democratic candidates have opened more than twenty, and popular Democratic Governor Roy Cooper is one of her key representatives.
The largest voter group in North Carolina is registered as independent voters, often playing a decisive role in statewide elections.
On Monday, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the State Board of Elections must reprint presidential ballots to remove the name of former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For Trump, who has already received an endorsement from Kennedy, this could potentially bring him more votes.
On Friday, Harris will head to Johnstown and Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania to kick off a “more aggressive” campaign.