CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the last full week before the election, candidates are making one last push for votes.
Here’s what we know for sure: Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are aggressively competing in just seven swing states that will ultimately decide the election. They are the three so-called “Blue Wall” states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — in addition to Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
On Wednesday, Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, will travel to Charlotte, Greensboro and Asheville in North Carolina, according to the Harris campaign. Also on Wednesday, Democratic presidential nominee Harris is in Raleigh. She is scheduled to return to Charlotte on Saturday.
What do we know about Trump’s schedule? He’s booked to host at least one rally every day next week: Monday in Georgia, Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Wednesday in Wisconsin, Thursday in Nevada, Friday in Wisconsin again and Saturday in Virginia. Later Monday morning, Trump's campaign added an event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is speaking at a Charlotte event at the Trump 47 Office on Central Avenue at 6 p.m.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance will campaign in Selma on Friday, the Trump campaign announced on Wednesday.
More than 41 million votes have already been cast in the election nationwide. Democrats generally have an advantage in early voting, but so far, at least, Republicans are participating at a much higher rate than they have in the past.
Because of the Republican participation, the early turnout was breaking records last week in swing states such as Georgia and North Carolina.
Trump, of course, has for years encouraged his supporters to cast only in-person ballots on Election Day. The practice put the GOP at a significant disadvantage. He largely reversed course in recent months as he and his party acknowledged the obvious benefit of being able to bank their votes as early as possible.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
WCNC Charlotte will have live election coverage of all the local and statewide elections starting at 7 p.m. on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5 on streaming on WCNC+, and all election results can be found by texting the word ELECTION to 704-329-3600 or going to WCNC Charlotte's election page.
