If Vice President Kamala Harris wins North Carolina on Sunday, Gov. Roy Cooper said, “she is the next president of the United States.”
“Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan asked the governor on Sunday if North Carolinians are willing to change their minds about Harris’s run for president.
“There is no doubt about it. We’re close to it here in North Carolina. He said, “It always is.” The only thing that made this Biden-Harris loss in 2020 close was 1.3%. Also, Kamala Harris has been to North Carolina 17 times as Vice President of the United States. This shows that she cares about our state.
Democrats have been wanting to win North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes for a long time. They haven’t been won by a Democrat since Barack Obama was president in 2008. The party may be feeling hopeful because of North Carolina’s history of Democratic leaders and Cooper’s success in the state.
Cooper will not be running for re-election. Instead, right-wing Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson will be going against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. In August, a poll by the New York Times and Siena put Stein 10 points ahead of Robinson. Democrats are hoping that Robinson’s angry comments will help them all across the board.
Late in August, the Cook Political Report, which is not a political party, changed North Carolina’s rating from “lean Republican” to “toss-up.” CBS News last week talked to Jessica Taylor, the senate and governor editor for The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Taylor said that the Biden team wanted to make North Carolina a battleground, but Harris made it one.
“And so we’ve seen significant shifts, I think, with enthusiasm among Black voters, among younger voters, and the polls that we have seen show this very much to be a toss-up contest,” Taylor said then.
A poll from late July or early August by the Cook Political Report shows that Harris is ahead of former President Donald Trump by one point in North Carolina, 48% to 47%. This is different from their May report, which showed that Biden was behind Trump by seven points, 41% to 48%.
New polling from CBS also shows that the races in three other key battleground states—Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin—are still very close before the first debate between Harris and Trump on Tuesday. The economy is still a big problem for voters. Cooper said on Sunday that people in North Carolina will be watching the debate and Harris’ plans for the economy.
“She has a plan too.” She has a plan to lower prices for people in North Carolina, especially when it comes to babysitting and drugs. We’re excited about her business plan, and I think people in North Carolina will like it, Cooper said.
After the debate on Tuesday, Harris will go back to North Carolina on Thursday for a campaign event that will mark the beginning of a tour of key states. First lady Gwen Walz and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff are also going on a bus tour across the state this week.
The more people in North Carolina hear Harris’s message, Cooper said on Sunday, the more support she will continue to get in the state.
“We need to keep telling people in North Carolina and across the country that Kamala Harris has an economic plan that will help lower costs for regular people, help families do well, and protect women’s right to choose.” Cooper said, “I think that’s what will work here in the end.”
He ended his answer when asked if he’d be open to being attorney general in a Harris-Walz government with “We’ll see.” The two men have known each other since they were both attorneys general in their states.