Harris Campaign Pulls Millions in Ad Spending in North Carolina Amid Surge of Republican Early Voters
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has pulled millions of dollars of planned ad spending in North Carolina amid a surge of Republicans who have voted early on the state over the last two weeks.
According to The Carolina Journal, Harris is not abandoning the Tar Heel State, but is now focusing her energy on the Raleigh market, where she leads former President Donald Trump.
AdImpactm, which tracks candidate ad spending, reported Harris’s camp reserved $2.7 million Monday for an ad blitz in the state in the final week of her campaign. Tuesday morning, $2 million worth of those reservations had been canceled.
Citing numbers from AdImpact, the Journal reported Harris will focus her energy and her campaign’s war chest on the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill areas:
According to ad tracking firm AdImpact, the Harris-Walz presidential campaign has changed much of its remaining ad spending in North Carolina in the last week of the election, pulling millions of dollars worth of ads from the major North Carolina media markets. This comes a day before Harris is scheduled to campaign in the capital city of Raleigh, the only North Carolina media market where she is leading the Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump.
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North Carolina is almost two weeks into early voting and seeing significant upticks in turnout among registered Republicans and a drop among registered Democrats. More than three million votes have already been cast in the election.
Per the outlet, polling shows Harris and Trump tied at 47% in the state. Trump won its 15 electoral votes in 2016 and 2020. President Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 but lost it in 2012 to then-GOP nominee Mitt Romney in his successful reelection campaign.
GOP strategist Chris LaCivita commented Harris was “giving up on North Carolina,” but that does not appear to be the case.
Per the Journal, Harris leads Trump 55% to Trump’s 40% in the North Carolina Triangle, while Trump leads throughout the rest of the state.
Both candidates will visit North Carolina on Wednesday. Harris will hold a rally in Raleigh, while Trump will visit Rocky Mount in the central part of the state.
