GASTONIA, North Carolina — GASTONIA, North Carolina (AP) — Donald Trump will be rallying supporters in North Carolina every day until Tuesday’s election, a late-night flurry of activity in the only swing state he won in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Even as Trump seeks to expand the electoral map and project strength with trips to New Mexico and Virginiatwo Democratic states not considered competitive, he spends a lot of time on North Carolina, which last supported a Democrat for president in 2008.

The former president’s path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency becomes much more complicated if he loses North Carolina. The fast-growing Southern state gave Trump his smallest margin of victory – 1.3 percentage points – over Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.

Trump campaigned in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, and Greensboro on Saturday, with a stop in Salem, Virginia, in between. He will travel to Kinston, in the east of the country, on Sunday and to Raleigh on Monday. These four rallies will bring the total of its events in North Carolina since October 1 to nine. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has visited the state six times during the same period, most recently on Friday.

vice-president Kamala HarrisTrump’s Democratic rival, was also in North Carolina on Saturday for a concert and rally in Charlotte. Her campaign has not announced any other trips to the state before Election Day, although she is sending her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, to Greenville on Monday.

The significant damage caused by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina created a dose of uncertainty on the state of affairs here. Flooding destroyed homes and displaced residents in several counties, including the liberal city of Asheville and the conservative rural areas surrounding it.

Trump’s team said it was confident about its chances in North Carolina. Democrats see Trump’s focus on the state as a signal of optimism for Harris.

“These repeated appearances could indicate that the Trump campaign is in trouble,” said Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham. “If Trump continues with his dangerous and violent rhetoric of recent days, it could backfire on him. A campaign of personal retaliation does not win the votes of the people.

Trump adviser Jason Miller said Trump’s late-campaign trips were not a red flag.

“I’m not worried about anything,” Miller told reporters Friday. “We have a smart strategy that’s going to get President Trump through 270, maybe even a few states that will surprise you, that will slide in there. But we’re going to follow our strategy. Our strategy comes from our data and our targeting.

As he does at most of his events in North Carolina, Trump said in Gastonia that his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, whom he named co-chair of the Republican National Committee, was from that state and that Lara and Eric Trump named their daughter Carolina.

“It’s an incredible place. You’ve been through a lot,” Trump said, referring to the hurricane before repeating debunked claim that the Federal Emergency Management Agency prioritized people living in the country illegally over hurricane victims. “Your government hasn’t helped you too much, I can tell you that. Your government, FEMA, failed you because they wanted to spend this money on illegal immigrants instead.

Later in Greensboro, only about half the seats were filled in a massive 22,000-seat arena when Trump began speaking after 9 p.m. Trump spoke in another arena part of the same complex just 11 days earlier, although Harris filled the larger venue when she spoke there recently.

About half of North Carolina’s 7.8 million registered voters had already cast their ballots Friday, supported by early voting in person, which ended Saturday afternoon.

North Carolina Republicans have been encouraged by their supporters’ early voter turnout after national and state Republican leaders adopted a “banking your vote” strategy this year, rather than focusing on turnout. election day.

Entering the final days of the campaign, more than 50,000 more registered GOP voters than Democrats had cast early or absentee ballots, even though there are more than 100,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans overall. the state, according to state election data. It’s unclear whether the surge in Republican votes will translate into higher overall turnout for Trump supporters.

Independent voters now make up the largest group of registered voters in North Carolina. Trump lost ground among independents between 2016 and 2020.

Harris took the stage in Charlotte after rocker Jon Bon Jovi warmed up the crowd, true to the speech she gave during her last tour of the battleground states.

Harris supporter Gwen Garnett, 66, said Trump’s storm in North Carolina was “just part of the process.” This doesn’t worry me at all. She gave Harris’ candidacy a spiritual dimension.

“It’s the perfect time for her to take on this role,” Garnett said. “I just believe it’s God’s timing.”

The state’s voters have shown a propensity to split their slate over the years. That’s why, while Republicans have controlled the state legislature since 2011, Democrats have held the governorship since 1993, all but four years.

The Republican Party’s hopes of breaking that hold Tuesday appeared to dwindle in recent weeks after the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, received unwanted publicity from a CNN report that he had posted explicit racist and sexual messages on the message board of a pornographic website. board of directors more than ten years ago.

While Robinson denied writing the messages and sued CNN for defamation last month, his campaign almost imploded, raising concerns that a large victory for Democrat Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general, could hurt Republican candidates in other races.

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Robertson reported from Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Detroit and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.