CHARLOTTE — With North Carolina firmly situated as a battleground state for the 2024 presidential election, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are stopping in the Charlotte area on the same day to make a final push for voters ahead of Election Day.
They’ll be in the area on Saturday, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holding a campaign rally in Gastonia and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris hosting a rally in Charlotte.
Trump made the announcement about the Gastonia rally on Wednesday, and he’s set to start speaking around noon Saturday at the Gastonia Municipal Airport.
Harris’ event is set for Saturday afternoon, and she’s bringing a concert lineup with her to PNC Music Pavilion. Brittney Spencer, Jon Bon Jovi, Khalid, and The War And Treaty are slated for the lineup, and Kerry Washington will give remarks.
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Scores of people are expected to line up for the rallies, and Davidson College Political Science Professor Susan Roberts told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon that Harris and Trump seem to be done courting undecided voters in North Carolina.
“There’s not enough time left in the campaign to convince people to vote or convince people that you’re the candidate,” Roberts said.
She said they’re just trying to get enough of their supporters out to win the state’s 16 electoral votes. Winning the presidential race without those delegates will be hard for either candidate.
“It’s a toss-up,” Roberts said.
Gaston County Elections Director Adam Ragan said the rallies have been effective. Poll workers have heard people in line talk about visiting rallies as they got a ballot.
“They go to these rallies and then they come back and they’re enthused to vote, regardless who the candidate they are voting for,” Ragan said.
With both campaigns set to arrive through Charlotte, expect traffic delays along major roads and highways Saturday.
Early voting in North Carolina runs through Saturday. If you’re not registered to vote yet, you can register in person and vote early but you can’t register in person on Election Day.
We’ll update this story when we learn more about the campaign stops.
(VIDEO: Early voters in Cabarrus County met with long lines)
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