Registered Republicans hold a slight lead in North Carolina over Democrats and unaffiliated voters in the early vote tally as of Thursday with nearly half of the state’s voters already casting a ballot.
According to the state’s latest update, which included early votes from Wednesday, around 3.62 million of North Carolina’s 7.82 million registered voters have cast a ballot, The Hill reported. Of those early votes, registered Republicans account for 34% while registered Democrats account for 33% and unaffiliated voters also stand at 33%. While the numbers aren’t necessarily accurate predictions of who will win the state, they provide a small glimpse into how the state is trending.
Michael Pruser of DecisionDeskHQ reported that the total early turnout in North Carolina is around two-thirds of the total expected vote. Pruser added that unaffiliated voters, or “others,” will likely account for the most votes in the vital swing state if the current trend holds. Unaffiliated voters account for the largest voting bloc in the state at 37.8% while Democrats come in second at 31.3% and Republicans are 29.9% of the state’s registered voters.
“Like yesterday, ‘Others’ ruled the day, but they did so convincingly this time. Republicans lead this group by just over 22,000 votes, and the trend suggests that by the time we’re finished, the Orange team [others] will be at the top,” Pruser wrote.
Another day, another 254,401 votes banked in North Carolina. 3.62 million votes have been cast, nearly two-thirds of the expected final total.
🔴Republicans – 1,230,530
🟡Others – 1,208,335
🔵Democrats – 1,183,954Like yesterday, ‘Others’ ruled the day, but they did so… pic.twitter.com/hHOlISrWMq
— Michael Pruser (@MichaelPruser) October 31, 2024
Early in-person voting in North Carolina is slightly above where it was at this point in 2020, but there has been a sharp decrease in absentee ballots counted this year compared to 2020, according to The Hill.
Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have spent a lot of time campaigning in North Carolina, one of the seven battleground states in the 2024 election. Earlier this week, however, the Harris campaign pulled millions of dollars from North Carolina media markets, according to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.
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Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita suggested that the Harris campaign was pulling money out of North Carolina to focus more on Virginia, a traditionally blue state that has seen Harris’ lead in the polls drop in recent weeks. The polling in North Carolina remains close with Trump leading Harris by just 1 point, per the RealClearPolitics average.
Trump won the state in both 2016 and 2020, but his margin of victory was much smaller over President Joe Biden than it was over Hillary Clinton. North Carolinians are also voting in an important gubernatorial race where Republican Mark Robinson is running against Democrat Josh Stein. The current governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, is term-limited.
