CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kamala Harris' stop in Charlotte on Thursday is just the latest in North Carolina between herself and Donald Trump.
You might have noticed that North Carolina is getting a lot of attention from the candidates. But why is this? Let's verify.
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WHAT WE FOUND
Harris is visiting Charlotte on Thursday, while Trump was in Charlotte just last week for a private event.
Political science professor Scott Huffmon said everyone should get used to it.
"North Carolina is absolutely going to be a critical state for the 2024 presidential election," he said.
Huffmon said as of right now, this race is really close and both candidates need North Carolina.
"It is absolutely not certain that the Democrats are going to get all of the states that they won in 2020, for example," he said.
North Carolina, which used to lean Republican is now more purple. Even still, Democrats running for president have only won North Carolina once since 1980, when Barack Obama carried the state in 2008. Huffmon says rapidly changing demographics have put North Carolina in play compared to past elections.
"A lot of the in-migration to North Carolina has been to the city centers, the larger cities. They've been younger folks," Huffmon explained. "They've been coming for jobs and they tend to lean a little more Democratic. So the demographic change that we have seen in North Carolina over the past four years puts it a little more in play this time and very critical to both candidates' plans for success."
A recent Siena College Research Institute Poll shows Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck. Because the numbers are so close, Huffmon said we can't rely solely on polling data.
"It doesn't tell you a whole lot, especially if one candidate seems to be one point ahead or two points ahead because that's within the margin of error," he explained. "A 2- to even 3-point difference between candidates in a single poll means that they are statistically tied. What you need to look for is a trend."
