Vice President Kamala Harris opened a new Biden campaign office on Trade Street Thursday afternoon — a sign that Democrats are going to compete to flip North Carolina blue for the first time since 2008 this fall.
Harris spoke before roughly 100 Democrats at the Mecklenburg Democratic Party headquarters, which will be shared with the Biden campaign.
Even though Donald Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2020, Harris gave credit to Democratic loyalists in Charlotte for the type of energy that propelled her and President Biden to victory.
“It is because of what you did and your leadership and organizing and having faith in the possibilities that Joe Biden is president of the United States and I am vice president of the United States,” she said.
The Biden campaign has said the vice president came to Charlotte to show how important Mecklenburg County is for Democrats.
While the county has the state’s most registered Democrats, turnout has lagged behind the state average in recent elections.
Getting high turnout in blue strongholds like Mecklenburg County is considered key to Biden carrying the state in November.
“Elections matter,” Harris said. “Organizing matters. Showing up matters. Remembering the strength and power of our voice matters.”
The Biden campaign said it will open 10 other offices across North Carolina this month.
Trump won North Carolina in 2020 by only 75,000 votes. It was his smallest margin of victory in any state that he carried.