In North Carolina, one of the battleground states in the US presidential election, a tight race is underway between Democratic candidate Heather Kinley and Republican Federal Senator Thom Tillis. Despite polls showing Kinley having a slight lead, Tillis predicts that former President Donald Trump will come out victorious in the state’s presidential election.
According to recent opinion polls, the competition for the presidential candidates in North Carolina is heating up. The state is considered a swing state for the 2024 election, having recently weathered a storm. Both Trump and Vice President Kinley have been actively organizing campaign events in North Carolina.
A survey conducted by High Point University found that Kinley has the support of 47% of registered voters in North Carolina, while Trump is backed by 46% of voters. Approximately 1% of voters plan to vote for other candidates, and 6% are still undecided.
Tillis, a Republican, stated in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday that he believes Trump’s advantage in winning the state is similar to his lead in 2020 when he won North Carolina by 1.3 percentage points.
Before withdrawing from the race, Biden made North Carolina his final stop in a swing state tour following his State of the Union address, with the Democratic party hoping to turn the state around and make it the “Georgia” of 2024.
Since Kinley replaced Biden in the presidential race in July, she has outperformed Biden in this swing state according to opinion polls.
Tillis, representing North Carolina as a senior senator, praised the strong early voting turnout in the state despite the delays caused by Hurricane Helen. He commended efforts to expand polling locations in storm-affected areas and the response measures to Hurricane Helen, which caused historic rainfall and flooding in the North Carolina mountains.
The High Point University survey also indicated that among voters who have already cast their ballots, there is a higher tendency to vote for the Republican candidate, with 50% of respondents reporting they voted for Trump compared to 48% for Kinley.
The senator called for bipartisan cooperation in Washington D.C., emphasizing that if the Republicans control the White House, House, and Senate, they will extend the 2017 tax cuts without Democratic votes. However, he stressed that long-lasting legislation with “enduring quality” would require bipartisan collaboration.
Additionally, Tillis expressed doubt about the re-election chances of incumbent Governor Mark Robinson, a Republican, in North Carolina.