Harris packs supplies for Western NC in Raleigh before heading to rally in Greenville
Vice President Kamala Harris landed in Raleigh on Saturday to meet supporters and pack hurricane relief supplies as her presidential campaign resumed following Helene’s devastating impact on Western North Carolina.
She was expected to spend Saturday night in Raleigh before heading east Sunday for a campaign rally. Harris is expected to speak at 4:40 p.m. Sunday in Greenville before returning to Washington later in the evening.
Harris arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport at around 5:45 p.m. Saturday and traveled by motorcade to The Pit Authentic Barbecue in downtown Raleigh. There, she meet with members of the Black community, politicians and faith leaders before helping box up several care packages of diapers, hand sanitizers and other supplies for Western North Carolina.
Last weekend she was in Charlotte on a similar visit.
Greg Hatem, owner of The Pit and founder of Empire Properties, said he worked with Harris’ campaign to organize the relief effort. The campaign pulled together the group of supporters they wanted to meet with and have a conversation, he said.
“We took (a truck) earlier, mostly water and gas and basic supplies,” Hatem said. “We’re going to be taking a second truck, and we’re working with the governor’s office about what they need and where, so we put those two together — the campaign, Vice President Harris — we put those together to pack this, along with Empire Properties.”
The collection drive will continue for a few weeks before the supplies are delivered to the N.C. mountains, he said. After that, they will start planning for how to provide mobile kitchens and construction labor, he said. They’re also reaching out to chefs and other restaurant workers in Western North Carolina about how to set up temporary jobs, he said.
“It’s such a community of people in the restaurant industry. Everybody knows everybody,” he said.
North Carolina a battleground state
North Carolina is one of seven major battleground states that Harris and former President Donald Trump have been crisscrossing in recent weeks. The Harris rally Sunday comes ahead of the start of early voting here, which begins Thursday and runs through Nov. 2.
As part of her outreach in Eastern North Carolina, Harris is also tapping former President Bill Clinton to stump for her. Clinton will embark on a bus tour of the region targeting “hard-to-reach” rural voters between Oct. 17 and 20.
He’s expected to appear at small-scale events like “local fairs and porch rallies,” and will focus on the economy, CNN reported earlier this week.
Election Day is just 24 days away.
Trump, the Republican nominee for president, held a town hall in Fayetteville on Oct. 4, where he blasted the Biden administration’s response to the storm.
As of Friday, the RealClearPolitics polling average showed that Trump has a very slim lead over Harris in North Carolina. The state has only supported Democratic presidential candidates twice in the last 50 years — former President Jimmy Carter in 1976 and for former President Barack Obama in 2008.
Harris and Trump, and their vice presidential picks — Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance — have included the Tar Heel state in multiple campaign stops this year.
Those visits have been ramping up in the last few weeks, with Vance holding a town hall Thursday with voters in Greensboro. He is also expected to attend the Bank of America ROVAL 400 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, according to WCNC Charlotte. This will be Vance’s third visit to Charlotte in less than a month.
On Saturday, the Trump campaign announced that Vance will hold a rally in Wilmington on Wednesday.
Walz has not returned to North Carolina since Helene.
Under the Dome
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