MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Not only is North Carolina a pivotal swing state in the 2024 election, but Mecklenburg County in particular will play an important role.
Heading into Election Day, the presidential campaigns are keeping a close watch on Mecklenburg County. To understand why, we have to look back four years.
In the 2020 presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, North Carolina was Trump's narrowest victory; with 50.1% going to Trump and 48.7% going to Biden. That's a margin of 74,000 people out of 5.5 million. That's a tiny fraction.
Once you break it down further into Mecklenburg County in the 2020 election, Biden got 66.9% of the vote and Trump got 31.7%. That sounds like a lot, but Democrats were very disappointed in their turnout in Mecklenburg County four years ago. Now, they're hoping to drive voter turnout up in the county.
Comparatively, in Orange County in 2020, Biden got 75.1% to Trump's 23.8%; in Durham County, Biden got 80.7% to Trump's 18.1%.
There are more Democrats that live in Mecklenburg County than any other county in the state of North Carolina. So the Harris campaign thinks if they can drive the voter turnout numbers up in Mecklenburg County, they can win the state of North Carolina and the presidential race.
Contact Ben Thompson at bthompson@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.