GREENSBORO, N.C. — Donald Trump isn’t taking any chances in battleground North Carolina — making four stops in the state over two days — on Tuesday as well as Monday.
The polls here are tight. But more than that, the former president’s advisers are keenly aware that some of the state’s counties hardest hit by flooding from Hurricane Helene are deeply conservative.
He needs voters to turn out in those counties to win here again.
Looking through the state’s election data, in 2020 Trump won 23 of the 25 counties included in the federal disaster declaration in North Carolina.
While Trump is still making false claims about the administration’s response to the storm, there’s been a notable shift in one area in particular: early voting.
After railing against mail-in voting and early voting for years, he’s now urging people to vote early if they can.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a faith event at the Concord Convention Center, Oct. 21, 2024, in Concord, N.C.
Evan Vucci/AP
At his rally Monday night, signs urged residents to make a plan to get to the polls.
Both Democrats and Republicans feel optimistic about the strong early voting numbers in this state.
And we saw why as we traveled across the state — long lines stretched outside polling locations with Democrats and Republicans lining up one after another, ready to cast their ballots.
Citizens mark their ballots at an early voting site inside the Greensboro Coliseum complex, venue for a campaign rally by Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump later in the day, in Greensboro, North Carolina, October 22, 2024.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
We met voter Roger Mills in Charlotte. He told us he doesn’t love everything Donald Trump says but he is voting for him anyway.
“I don’t like the way the country’s headed right now. I’m one of those that thinks we’re headed in the wrong direction. So, I thought, hey, I liked it in 2016 to 2020 I liked it well, except for the pandemic. So, I said I’d like to get back to that,” Mills said.
He called the former president “abrasive.”
“He talks without thinking sometimes, but I like his policies — his policies, I believe are good for America,” he said, adding, “[Harris] flip-flopped so many times I can’t tell where she stands.”
Angela Larry was at that polling location, too. She was eager to cast her ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I’m excited! I used to wait for Election Day to be part of the process but I’m part of the process today,” she said after she voted early. As a mother, she told us she supports Harris because of her stance on reproductive rights.
“We have a choice. Our bodies. We are females. We need to make the decisions. I don’t like that someone who doesn’t have a clue — that can’t walk the walk — has something to say what women go through,” she said.
Like many voters we’ve met — Angela Larry is just ready for it all to be over.
“I just want to get it over with. I’m ready for it to be over.”
Two weeks to go …
