Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign appears to be pulling a considerable amount of advertising money from North Carolina just days before the election. The move comes as polling trends in former President Donald Trump’s direction and Republicans overtake Democrats in early voting.
According to AdImpact, an advertisement tracking firm, Harris pulled at least $2 million of her initial $2.7 million buy from North Carolina media markets. The only media market where the Harris campaign has kept its ads is Raleigh, which, according to the Carolina Journal, is the only one in which she is leading former President Donald Trump in the polls.
Trump campaign Senior Advisor Chris LaCivita said on social media he believes the Harris campaign could be reallocating the money to Virginia (a blue state in presidential elections since 2008). If Harris is trying to “stop the slide” in the commonwealth, as LaCivita suggests, it could portend devastation for her electoral prospects come Nov. 5.
The move comes just one day before both Harris and Trump are scheduled to hold campaign events in the state. A recent Elon University poll showed Trump and Harris tied at 46% among registered voters. Another poll showed Trump with a slight lead, 47.2% to 46.6%. The RealClear Polling average shows Trump with a one-point lead in the state and ahead in every battleground except Michigan.
While polling is a more fickle indicator of electoral success, Republicans are also leading Democrats in early voting, 1,059,258 to 1,024,661, with another million registered as unaffiliated. Compared to this time in 2020, Democrat turnout is down by about 341,000 voters, while Republicans are up by about 9,000.
The Trump campaign is also facing somewhat of an uphill battle in North Carolina, as a key region of Republican voters, western North Carolina, was ravaged by Hurricane Helene.
That area, which brought a net 247,217 votes for Trump in 2020, has seen a slow-rolled relief effort from Democrats in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state officials, leaving many to question whether voter suppression is going on in the area. Trump only won the state by about 75,000 votes in 2020.
As The Federalist reported, Democrats in charge of some county elections boards have rejected plans to make emergency voting locations in response to the disaster, requiring the state legislature to compel them to do so.
Virginia’s polling margins are not as close as North Carolina, but a recent Rasmussen Reports poll showed Trump only trailing Harris by two points. While the RealClear average has Harris with a 5.8% lead, President Joe Biden won the commonwealth by over ten points in 2020.
For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
