President Joe Biden’s campaign is looking to follow in his former running mate, Barack Obama’s footsteps and flip North Carolina this fall as concerns grow about Democrats’ chances in Georgia.
Biden lost North Carolina to former President Donald Trump in 2020 by just over a percentage point. Before Obama won in 2008, the last time the Tar Heel State chose a Democrat for the presidency was in 1976 for Jimmy Carter.
Despite performing poorly in the state in presidential elections, Democrats have proven they can win the governor’s seat in North Carolina. Seven in eight of the recent gubernatorial elections were won by Democrats. In 2020 and 2022, the elections for the U.S. Senate were close, with Republicans winning seats by under 4 points each year.
“I would certainly advocate for North Carolina over Georgia right now with the Biden campaign,” Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) said. “Obviously, I’m a little biased. They’re going to have to make those decisions. I think Georgia is still an extremely important state to the president and can help put him over the top.”
Democratic groups are also eyeing North Carolina as an opportunity for Biden to win after Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson secured the Republican nomination for governor. He has come under intense scrutiny in the state for his past behavior, including describing “homosexuality” as “filth” and posting antisemitic sentiments on his Facebook page. He also faced backlash for calling victims of the 2018 Parkland school shooting “spoiled little bastards.”
As the Biden campaign looks to win the state, North Carolina’s growing population looks ripe for the campaign. Charlotte and Raleigh were among the top 10 metro areas for growth nationally, according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And many of the state’s new residents are people of color, coming from blue states such as California and New York.
Democrats believe they can use the changing demographics and Robinson’s extremist views to win over voters in North Carolina. But Georgia, which Biden narrowly won in 2020, will likely be more of a challenge, a reality Obama and his advisers found in 2008 as well.
“The fact is, Georgia is still in play, and of course we want to maintain Georgia,” said Van Johnson, the mayor of Savannah, per the New York Times. “But that doesn’t happen by osmosis. It happens by intentional investment. North Carolina is important. There is a governor’s race there — that’s important. But you can’t cut off your right hand and help your left hand. You need both.”
Cooper said while Georgia was important, Biden may not have the same support in Georgia as he did in 2020 without running alongside a Senate candidate.
“You don’t have Raphael Warnock on the ballot in 2024,” he said.
“It’s frustrating as a Georgian because we put so much into Georgia,” Erick Allen, the former chairman of the Cobb County Democratic Party, said. “Because if you think about the 2020 election, the momentum that Biden was able to tap into here was also because of the energy in the statewide races.”
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Still, Democrats in Georgia look to keep momentum behind keeping their state blue.
“The president is in the right place,” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) said in Atlanta ahead of Biden’s visit on Saturday. “Because we know that the road to the White House goes through Georgia.”
