(The Center Square) – With just eight days until the general election, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck-in-neck in North Carolina.
Considered one of seven swing states, winning North Carolina is critical in the race for the White House.
Currently, Trump leads the polls by an average of 1.3%, well within the margin of error, according to Project 538. Trump has been steadily inching ahead since overtaking Harris at the beginning of October.
RealClear Polling also had Trump leading in the polling average in North Carolina, though only by 0.8%.
Nationally, the polling average swung to Trump in the last few weeks. On Saturday, he also took the national lead at RealClear Polling, now leading by 0.2%. Harris had been leading nationally according to that poll since Aug. 5.
Both sides of the aisle seem to believe North Carolina is in play, as both candidates will once again be campaigning in the state – this time just days before the election.
Historically, Trump has outperformed the polls, while Democrats vie to win the state for the first time since Barack Obama in 2008.
Trump won the state in the last two presidential election cycles. In 2020, Biden never trailed in the polls in the final months of the election. Going into Election Day, he was 1.8% ahead of Trump, but still lost the state by 1.3%.
Since first beginning early voting on Oct. 17, North Carolina has seen record levels of turnout, with lines forming at many polling stations.
As of Monday morning, the North Carolina State Board of Elections reported a nearly 40% turnout of registered voters, with 2.8 million ballots cast.
This is especially notable after the state faced historic challenges due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
“We have seen some lines in some parts of the state since early voting began, but, overall, this has been an extremely smooth first half of the early voting period,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state’s election board at a press conference last week.
In-person early voting will continue in North Carolina through Saturday, Nov. 2.
