Biden campaign opening 10 field offices in North Carolina
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President Biden exits Air Force One upon arrival at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on March 26. Photo: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP
President Biden's North Carolina campaign is ramping up efforts to mobilize Democratic voters and reach out to suburban swing voters by opening 10 new field offices across the state.
Why it matters: The Biden campaign has named North Carolina as one of its key battleground investments for the 2024 election. The president has already visited the state twice this year.
Zoom in: In addition to its headquarters in Raleigh, the Biden campaign is opening field offices in Forsyth, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Cumberland, Johnston, Orange, New Hanover, Buncombe, Cabarrus and Alamance counties.
- The locations highlight the campaign's belief that the state could be flipped by getting better turnout in larger cities like Charlotte and Greensboro.
- But it's also focusing on reaching out to Republican and unaffiliated voters in suburban counties, like Cabarrus (northeast of Charlotte), Johnston (southeast of Raleigh) and Alamance (wedged between Durham and Greensboro).
The big picture: North Carolina has been elusive for Democrats since 2008, but it's one of the few states where the presidential campaign is playing offense, NBC News reported.
- A senior Biden official told Axios' Sophia Cai the campaign this month has opened 44 offices in Wisconsin, 12 to 14 offices in Pennsylvania and 20 offices in Michigan.
It also comes as the Republican National Committee struggles to boost staffing levels in battleground states, Axios reported.
- Less than eight months before the Nov. 5 election, significant parts of the RNC's get-out-the-vote operation in states likely to decide the election are playing catch-up after Trump's team ousted 60 staffers in its recent takeover.
- About a third of those ousted staffers were state directors and regional political directors, jobs that are key to recruiting, training and mobilizing volunteers far ahead of Election Day.
Between the lines: It's not clear where or when the Trump team will open field offices throughout North Carolina.
- But Chris LaCivita, a Trump Campaign senior advisor and the Republican National Committee's chief of staff, dismissed Biden's recent battleground staffing moves and pointed to Trump's lead in national polls.
- "With an operation fueled by hundreds of thousands of small dollar donors and energized supporters, and without sharing our strategy with Democrats through the media, we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5," LaCivita said in a statement.
What they're saying: "North Carolina is a key battleground in 2024 and we are organizing earlier than ever before to flip our state and deliver a win for Biden-Harris and Tar Heel Democrats this year," David Berrios, Biden's North Carolina campaign manager, said in a statement.