North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (Democrat) said Sunday he is confident the state will vote for a Democratic presidential candidate in November for the first time in more than a decade.
Cooper, who was once considered a front-runner for Harris’ campaign, said in an interview on MSNBC’s “The Weekend” that Harris is the candidate who can win the state.
“It feels like 2008,” he said. “I won North Carolina for Barack Obama. It feels the same way now. I’m going to take this seriously here.”
The last time North Carolina voted Democrat was in the 2008 election, after voting for former President Carter in 1976. Former President Trump won the state in 2020 by 1.3 percentage points over President Biden.
Recent polls have shown Harris matching Trump’s lead in the state, but still trailing by single digits.
“North Carolina is seeing an influx of talent from the technology sector, the life sciences sector, the aerospace sector,” Cooper said. “The data shows we can swing North Carolina to the Democratic Party, and we’re very excited about that opportunity. And it’s clear that the Harris campaign believes that, too. You just look at the battleground states she’s going to next week.”
Nationally, Trump leads Harris by just 1.1 points, according to The Hill/Decision Desk polling average.
