Kamala Harris has been a regular in NC in 2024. Here’s what she’s told Charlotte
Kamala Harris, who’s gaining momentum as the Democrats’ top choice to replace Joe Biden on the 2024 ballot, visited Charlotte often prior to this weekend’s announcement.
President Biden on Sunday announced in separate social media posts that he would end his reelection campaign and endorse Harris. Since then, she’s gotten the unanimous support of North Carolina’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention and a range of support from prominent Democrats, including Gov. Roy Cooper, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee frontrunner, visited Charlotte three times this year and the state seven times. In her visits, Harris talked about economic opportunity, clean energy and health care reform. Those visits and future ones could be an important part of her potential campaign to flip the the Tar Heel State in November.
In 2020, former president Donald Trump beat Biden by only 1.3% in North Carolina. Recent polls showed Trump leading Biden in the North Carolina by about 7%. No Democratic presidential candidate has carried the state’s electoral votes since Barack Obama did in 2008.
Kamala Harris visit in June
In June, Harris visited Johnson C. Smith University on her fourth stop on a nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour. She was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper, who’s now the subject of vice presidential speculation, along with Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and federal officials.
Harris highlighted the Biden administration’s efforts in economic opportunity, including investments in small businesses and job creation. She also addressed medical debt reform and the Biden Administration’s new proposal to prohibit medical bills from being included on credit reports for more than 15 million Americans.
“Your credit score is supposed to be a measure of if you are fiscally responsible,” Harris said. “We have now made it so that medical debt does not affect your credit score.”
April visit
Harris’s April visit to the Queen City came alongside Cooper again and other prominent Charlotte politicians. In uptown, she announced $20 billion in grants for clean energy projects, which she said will boost the economy and help the environment.
“Everyone will benefit,” Harris said to a crowd gathered at the Naomi Drenan Center, adding that the work the new grants will support will help ensure “the strength of our economy and the future of our nation.”
If she were re-elected, Harris told the crowd the administration would prioritize advancements in environmental concerns, maternal health and reproductive rights. She also denounced Trump for his past remarks about dictators and for nominating Supreme Court justices who opposed Roe v. Wade.
“The choice is so clear,” she said of the 2024 presidential election.
Harris also marked the opening of a Biden-Harris campaign office in Charlotte and visited a homeowner in the Grier Heights neighborhood.
January visit
In January, Harris visited Eastway Middle School to announce $285 million in federal funding for mental health services in schools, with North Carolina expected to get $12 million of that. She estimated the money would help bring on 332 new counselors in North Carolina and more than 14,000 nationally.
Harris also met privately with students affected by gun violence before a panel on violence prevention and mental health. She was joined by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, among others.
“Let’s pay attention to this issue because we can actually do something about it,” she said of the connection between mental health and violence. “And we have the opportunity then to address what we know will otherwise be generational and intergenerational trauma.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2024 at 12:46 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to state Vice President Kamala Harris has been to North Carolina seven times this year. The story previously provided an incorrect number of visits.
