General
The Biggest Question in North Carolina: Can Democrats Win?
Republicans have been quick to temper Democratic optimism in a state where rural areas, and maybe just enough suburbs and exurbs, remain reliably red.
In the western mountains, wealthy coastal towns, and urban and rural areas in between, North Carolina voters agree on this: It has been an exhausting and unsettling final stretch of the election in their state. After a devastating hurricane and a jolting political scandal, they are ready for a result.
Over the final days of the presidential campaign, the biggest question hanging over the state is whether Democrats, who have won North Carolina’s electoral votes only twice in the past half-century, will again come up short.
Vice President Kamala Harris has forced former President Donald J. Trump to compete in North Carolina, which he almost certainly must win to take the White House, until the very end. Both candidates have visited frequently and plan to return in the last few days of their campaigns: Ms. Harris will be in Charlotte on Saturday, while Mr. Trump has rallies in Greensboro and Gastonia on Saturday, Kinston on Sunday, and Raleigh on Monday.
Democrats see this year as their best chance to claim the state since 2008, when Barack Obama won it with a 0.32 percent margin. Gov. Roy Cooper, a term-limited Democrat, has said in recent weeks that he has “that 2008 feeling,” pointing to the energy that Ms. Harris injected into the race after replacing President Biden on the ticket.
But Republicans have been quick to temper Democrats’ optimism, arguing that they still have the edge in a state where rural areas, and a critical mass of conservative-leaning suburbs and exurbs, remain reliably red.
