Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off during their first presidential debate on Tuesday, and with the debate behind them, they are now traveling to different key states where they will have the opportunity to speak directly to voters.
Trump has his sights set on Arizona, where he will hold a rally in Tucson, while Harris' team heads to North Carolina, where they plan to hold events in Charlotte and Greensboro.
Both Arizona and North Carolina are considered valuable battlegrounds for the 2024 election and opposing campaigns certainly understand that securing either one will help widen their narrow paths to victory in a closely contested presidential race.
Thursday's events come after both candidates spent Wednesday commemorating those who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
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Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, attend the annual September 11 Remembrance Ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on September 11, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Pollsters say only a handful of battleground states will ultimately decide the outcome of the election, and the candidates' respective fates provide insight into their strategies.
Trump won North Carolina in his two previous attempts at the White House. The former president held rallies across the state last month and Republicans are confident of their chances of winning the state for a third time.
However, Trump's margin of victory in the state in 2020 was just 1.3 percentage points, his narrowest win of any state that year.
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The Harris campaign's eagerness to return to North Carolina indicates they are hopeful that its diversified population will give them the opportunity to turn the state around in this new opportunity. Harris' campaign said Thursday's trip will be her ninth to the state this year.
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Historically, Democrats have not won North Carolina's electoral votes since 2008, when former President Obama was first elected.
Registered independents, also known as unaffiliated voters, make up the largest voting bloc in the state, so there is a good chance of winning.
This week, a state Supreme Court ruling confirming that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should be removed from North Carolina ballots could bring more votes to Trump. Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat who ran as an independent, endorsed Trump in the race.
Historically, Republicans have dominated North Carolina in recent years and the state has voted red in 10 of the last 11 presidential elections (Obama won the state in 2008).
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In Arizona, the political trend is similar, with one important exception.
While Trump won Arizona in 2016, he lost it in 2020. Republicans have won Arizona in nearly every presidential election since World War II, but President Biden eked out a narrow victory in 2020.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and former U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during the second presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Getty Images)
More recently, the state has only voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in two of the last 18 elections (Clinton in 1996 and Biden in 2020).
Arizona was particularly tumultuous for Trump in 2020, as he previously faced off against the late U.S. senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
Republicans still outnumber Democrats in Arizona, but a third of voters are independents.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, visit firefighters outside FDNY Engine 4/Tower Ladder 15 fire station in lower Manhattan on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2024 terrorist attacks in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Wednesday's somber display provided a respite from partisan politics in a hectic campaign season.
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At a fire station in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, near where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back against their hijackers, Trump met with locals. Biden and Harris visited the same fire station earlier in the day.
Trump and Harris met in person later that day, when both traveled to Manhattan for another 9/11 ceremony.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
