North Carolina has been moved to “toss up” from “lean Republican” by the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report.
The shift comes as Vice-President Kamala Harris continues to lock down support from Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in the state making the election more competitive.
Cook Editor-In-Chief Amy Walter noted that both Harris and Donald Trump are in a dead heat at around 45.7 percent in FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics polling averages, a turnaround from last month when President Joe Biden was trailing Trump by seven points in the state.
Cook also moved Minnesota and New Hampshire towards Harris— from ‘lean Democratic’ to ‘likely Democratic’.
Last week, another election forecaster, Sabato’s Crystal Ball announced that it moved North Carolina from ‘Leans Republican’ to ‘Toss up’ amid a surge in support for Harris.
A Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won North Carolina since President Barack Obama in 2008.
But, with Harris at the top of the ticket, Democrats in the Tar Heel state believe they can change that in 2024 due to the surge in Democratic voter registration in the state since Biden dropped out of the race last month.
