(NewsNation) — Donald Trump is projected to win North Carolina, taking 16 electoral votes in the crucial swing state that has most often voted red, according to NewsNation/Decision Decision Desk HQ. See the results of the presidential race in other states here.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump had been neck and neck in key battleground states, including North Carolina, leading up to the election, according to polling by NewsNation partner The Hill.
North Carolina had 15 electoral votes in 2020 but gained an additional vote in 2024.
Although residents voted almost exclusively for Democrats from 1876 to 1964, similar to other Southern states, it began voting Republican in 1968 as the dismantling of Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement deepened racial fissures.
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Former President Barack Obama reversed the trend by beating Republican Sen. John McCain by about 14,000 votes in 2008. The state pivoted back to Republicans in 2012, favoring Trump in both 2016 and 2020.
North Carolina voters have only voted for two Democratic presidential candidates since the early 1970s: Obama and Jimmy Carter in 1976.
An October survey from Emerson College Polling and The Hill found the economy was the top issue among voters, followed by immigration and housing affordability.
One month before the election, Hurricane Helene caused massive destruction of infrastructure in the state, leaving officials scrambling to ensure the damage would not affect voting.
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Helene, which battered large swaths of the Southeast with torrential rain, strong winds and massive storm surges along the Gulf Coast, caused devastation “beyond belief” in the mountain city of Asheville and other parts of western North Carolina.
Both Harris and Trump briefly paused campaigning to focus on Hurricane Helene.
Trump visited the state multiple times afterward to rally voters. His speech in Mint Hill focused on his 2019 executive order that forced federal agencies to buy products made with more American components. He also revisited how he strengthened the Buy American Act.
Harris also visited the state a number of times in the hopes of wooing voters with her economic policies.
