CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Vice President Kamala Harris' rally in Charlotte on Saturday will have a special concert, as Jon Bon Jovi and Khalid perform on the last day of early voting in North Carolina.
Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, will be in Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 2. for a "When We Vote We Win" rally from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will be Harris' second visit to North Carolina this week following a campaign rally in Raleigh on Wednesday. Other performers scheduled for the event include Brittney Spencer and The War and Treaty. Actress Kerry Washington is also scheduled to appear, according to the Harris-Walz campaign.
Recent Harris rallies have leaned into celebrity endorsements, with pop superstar Beyoncé addressing voters during a rally in her hometown of Houston, Texas.
Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, will also be in the Charlotte area on Saturday for a rally in Gastonia. Trump's rally will be at the Gastonia Municipal Airport. Doors open at 8 a.m. with Trump scheduled to speak at noon.
Trump was most recently in North Carolina on Wednesday, speaking to supporters in Rocky Mount. During the rally, Trump criticized President Joe Biden for his recent comments where he appeared to call Trump supporters "garbage." The former president compared it to when Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying his supporters fit into a "basket of deplorables" in 2016.
“In North Carolina, these are people who have been devastated (by Hurricane Helene),” Trump said Wednesday. “They broke records in every single area, and some people didn’t even have a home anymore. How great is that? And they have the nerve to call you garbage.”
Recent polling shows a dead heat between Harris and Trump in North Carolina. Trump carried the state in 2020 and 2016. Barack Obama was the last Democrat to win North Carolina, narrowly defeating John McCain in 2008. Both campaigns have put a bullseye on North Carolina, with Harris, Trump and their running mates making numerous stops in the Tar Heel State.
The State Board of Elections reported Tuesday that more than 3.1 million ballots had been cast. This is slightly behind 2020, which was at around 3.4 million ballots by this point. However, experts emphasize it's hard to compare these years, given the amount of mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both are far ahead of 2016's 1.8 million ballots cast by this point.