Kamala Harris’ campaign for president has injected a shot of momentum into Democrats in North Carolina, a state Joe Biden hoped to add to his electoral map but where polls showed him lagging.
Party leaders in the state told NOTUS that they’re maneuvering to capitalize on the newfound grassroots enthusiasm and hope to carry it into November. Republicans, however, say Democrats are just in a honeymoon phase and that they still have time to turn newly excited voters against Harris.
Team Harris started the week after Biden dropped out with nearly 7,000 sign-ups to volunteer in North Carolina, an over 3000% increase from the previous week, the campaign said. Nearly 50% of new volunteers were first-time participants as well, it added. Democratic field offices in the state saw a 25% increase in weekly door-knocking events following the announcement, a source involved in North Carolina state House campaigns said.
“For the most part, we’re trying to take the same approaches and do our canvassing, phone banking, fundraising and all that,” Rep. Robert Reives, the North Carolina House Democratic leader, told NOTUS. “The main change since Harris is in is really trying to step up the intensity so that we can include the hundreds of new excited volunteers ready to help.”
Democrats are happy they started dumping time and resources into North Carolina early this cycle. As vice president, Harris has visited the state 15 times, seven of which took place this year. (She’ll make her eighth visit next week for a campaign rally in Raleigh after announcing her new running mate.) Team Harris also has more than 20 field offices and is currently staffing almost 150 people, a number the campaign says will grow throughout the fall.
A Harris campaign aide said they have seen an outpouring of enthusiasm in North Carolina, both from those who were on board with Joe Biden’s candidacy, as well as from new voters.
Beyond the historic nature of a potential Harris presidency — she would be the first woman, Black woman, and AAPI woman to hold the position — Democrats say Harris is well-positioned to campaign on issues significant to voters in North Carolina. Since the state currently limits abortion and has recently expanded Medicaid, Harris’ focus on reproductive freedoms and Republicans’ threats to health care could be effective, Democrats argue.
That said, both parties agree there’s still time to fully define Harris as a candidate — and that fact, Republicans say, would ultimately calm the Kamala-mania.
“Harris certainly helps fix the Democrats’ turnout problem, but can she transcend that into a winning issue definition campaign,” Paul Shumaker, a veteran GOP strategist in North Carolina, told NOTUS. “If she can’t fix the issue problem that the Biden administration has over border concerns and national security, Republicans are clearly going to continue to have a big year in North Carolina.”
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign leaned into that issue last week as it placed its first TV ads in North Carolina focusing on Harris. The ads highlighted Harris’ record on immigration policy and crime, arguing that the “dangerously liberal” candidate has led to the influx of illegal border crossings and the spread of fentanyl across the country. A High Point University poll of self-identified registered voters in North Carolina found that 62% of respondents said immigration is a very important issue for policymakers in D.C. to deal with — and they gave Republicans an edge in handling it.
“It makes a lot of sense for Trump to start getting that message out,” said Wayne King, a North Carolina Republican strategist. “Nobody has really taken the gloves off against her about her record with President Biden, but also her record before being vice president as attorney general in California, where she was anti-police, until she was a U.S. senator and voted for every Democrat agenda item that was brought up.”
Democrats in the state argue that the Trump ads are proof Republicans are spooked about the enthusiasm behind Harris.
“While he has barely any organization and shares a ballot with MAGA extremists like Mark Robinson, we have built a campaign to win close races,” Dory MacMillan, the Harris campaign’s North Carolina communications director, said in a statement to NOTUS. “With our winning message, diverse coalition, robust infrastructure, and unmatched enthusiasm, North Carolina is positioned to deliver a victory for Kamala Harris in November.”
Democrats in the state also think Harris has a compelling argument on immigration because Senate Republicans torpedoed a bipartisan border-security bill earlier this year.
“On immigration, there should not even be a discussion,” Reives said. “You get the deal that you ask for as Republicans, and you turn down that deal so that you have an election issue? Our job is to make sure people know that happened.”
Instead, Democrats are riding the wave of excitement and brushing off the talk of a honeymoon phase.
“Maybe it is a honeymoon period,” Sam Lozier, the North Carolina House Democratic caucus’ communications director, told NOTUS. “But all of the activity that’s happened in this phase is reusable. The resources, the people that have donated small dollars, are now in the system, and they’re going to get hit again for another $10, another $15, they’re going to make more phone calls. This wave is gonna be a little longer than I think people are counting on.”
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Calen Razor is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.