A prominent election forecaster has shifted the state of North Carolina away from Republicans in a concerning new development.
Sabato's Crystal Ball said Tuesday that it was moving North Carolina from the “leans Republican” column to a toss-up, as support for Harris builds in the Tar Heel State.
“This is the first time this cycle that we have moved any electoral votes away from the Republican column into the Toss-up column,” analysts wrote.
According to the election handicapper, North Carolina now joins Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania as toss-up states.
Sabato's Crystal Ball noted that there has been a “longer-running argument” that North Carolina would be more in play for Democrats than Georgia in this election.
The forecasters reported that Harris is polling better in North Carolina than she is in Georgia, however they noted they believe the Peach State will swing more left this November “despite the polls.” The report cited the larger Black population and Democratic support in Atlanta which outweighs North Carolina's growth in recent years.
“All that said, both states are close enough — and similar enough to the other key swing states in this election — that we don't think it makes sense to rate on as Toss-up and the other as Leans Republican anymore,” they wrote. “Hence our rating change today.”
North Carolina is still the “reddest” swing state of the bunch, the analysts say, and they are skeptical it could turn blue for Harris, but that could change in the next two months.
“Now that the election is getting closer and we are almost past the conventions, the polls probably should carry more weight, imperfect instruments though they are,” they wrote.
If Harris can maintain or build upon the momentum generated during the state of her campaign, “it may be that one or more of these ‘Magnificent Seven,' to borrow the famous movie title, won't be Toss-ups anymore.”
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