In 2024, Democrats are targeting North Carolina for a possible shift, a state previously won by former President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020.
With Trump’s 2020 victory in the state by a slim margin, changing demographics, and the election of Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, North Carolina appears to be a potential battleground for Biden this election cycle.
According to political analysts cited by the Daily Caller, various electoral and demographic dynamics in North Carolina could create competitiveness for President Joe Biden in the upcoming November election.
“Looks like at this point, North Carolina is the Trump state that is most likely to be in play in 2024, while there are half a dozen Biden states that are expected to be in play,” Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia said.
📊 North Carolina GE: WRAL/Survey USA
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) March 12, 2024
🟥 Trump 50% (+5)
🟦 Biden 45%
—
Independents: Trump +8 (49-41)
—
2.8/3.0 (#14) | 3/3-9 | 598 LV | ±4.9%https://t.co/1DaGWoWrwY pic.twitter.com/hlaY1BxaFH
For quite some time, Democrats have viewed North Carolina as a hopeful prospect, highlighting its shifting demographics and receptiveness to Democratic candidates at the state level.
Despite this, North Carolina has typically favored Republican candidates in presidential elections. Except for Barack Obama’s victory in 2008, the state has consistently supported Republican nominees in every presidential contest since Jimmy Carter’s win in 1976, as reported by USA Today.
Leading Democrats acknowledged earlier this year that flipping North Carolina is a challenging task, but the state could present Biden with his most robust and possibly only chance to expand his electoral reach in 2024.
“If the campaign goes all in, we can win North Carolina, but we need that support and that investment,” Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel said during a Biden Air Force One trip in Durham, N.C. last year.
“The votes are there; we’ve just got to get them out to vote,” he added.
Democrats are optimistic about North Carolina potentially shifting their direction, attributing it to a substantial and growing Black population, vibrant urban centers with a significant number of college-educated voters, and a growing discontent among traditional Republicans towards Trump.
The Biden administration is turning the pandering up to a ten. They’re eating fried chicken with black people in North Carolina, they’re using other people’s money to pay off student loans and now they’re trying to get marijuana legal. The Vice President went from the border czar… pic.twitter.com/jUGJcG9jrh
— Conservative News Feed (@C_N_F__on__X) March 17, 2024
These elements have bolstered increasing optimism within Biden’s Wilmington headquarters and among prominent Democrats, indicating that the president might achieve a notable victory in the state.
“We expect North Carolina to be extremely competitive,” said Quentin Fulks, Biden’s deputy principal campaign manager earlier this year.
“That’s why we have invested early – both in paid and in our infrastructure – and are running an aggressive operation that builds on years of significant investments in the state,” he continued.
North Carolina is going to help defeat Biden @charliekirk11.
— Margo (@MargoinWNC) March 14, 2024
Help us help you. https://t.co/OPlokY0PTi