(NewsNation) — With less than two months to go until the election, both candidates are focusing on the all-important swing states, including North Carolina, which is now considered back in play.
Former President Donald Trump is making another appearance in the state, the only swing state he won in 2020 and by just a little bit more than 1%.
The landscape in North Carolina has changed dramatically since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee after presumptive nominee President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
This will be the fourth time Trump has visited the state, which was leaning heavily Republican before Harris was nominated.
North Carolina is important when it comes to choosing a president, as the purple state has gone for Republicans many, many times over the past 40 years. Going back to 1980, Republicans carried the state in every presidential election with the exception of 2008, when former President Barack Obama won the state’s electoral votes.
The latest polling from Decision Desk HQ shows a razor-thin margin in the state now, with less than a percentage point separating Harris and Trump.
With North Carolina having gone for Trump in 2016 and 2020, it could cause big problems if he isn’t able to win over Tar Heel voters in 2024.
“If Harris wins North Carolina, I think it is very likely she has won the general election,” said North Carolina State University professor Steven Greene. “Harris can afford to lose North Carolina. I don’t think Donald Trump can afford to lose North Carolina.”
It all comes down to math. In order to get to 270 electoral votes, the shortest path for a Trump victory is for the former president to hold every state he won in 2020 and flip Georgia and Pennsylvania.
But if there’s a crack in the armor of a state like North Carolina, that makes his road to the White House a bit longer.
Meanwhile, there is a delay in vote-by-mail ballots in North Carolina, which were meant to be sent out Friday. At the heart of the issue is the inclusion of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a candidate.
Over the last year, Kennedy fought for ballot access across the country, securing a spot on the ballot in North Carolina. But now that he’s suspended his campaign and backed Trump, he’s attempting to have his name removed.
So far, his efforts have been unsuccessful, but a ruling from the appeals court in North Carolina put a pause on mailing out ballots, a victory for Kennedy. However, the election commission has not yet said if they plan to appeal the ruling, but for now, ballots with Kennedy’s name on them will not be going out to voters.