Haley Voters for Harris — a political group seeking to encourage moderate Republicans and former Nikki Haley supporters to back Vice President Kamala Harris in November — is expanding operations to specifically target North Carolina, Scripps News has learned, as top officials suggest Haley voters could be key to a Democratic victory in the battleground state.
Michael Tucker, a Republican who previously served on the board of the Mecklenburg County GOP representing the greater Charlotte area, will lead the North Carolina operation.
“We're seeing that momentum Kamala Harris is gaining inside of this state, and I think this is an ideal time for us,” Tucker told Scripps News. “We need to make a concerted effort to win the 16 Electoral College votes here.”
Tucker previously led the “Republicans for Harris” group organized by the Vice President’s campaign, and publicly announced his support for Harris in June. Though he backed Haley in the primary, he wasn’t swayed by her endorsement of former President Donald Trump — and said now is the time for Republicans like him to make a stand.
“If we as a base don't stand up and say that ‘this is enough and we need to stop that,’ then it's just going to continue happening,” Tucker said. “It's up to us to be incumbent, to stand up and say, ‘Enough of the extremism, let’s move on to good government.’”
Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, highlighted in response that onetime opponents like Haley and former Democrats like Robert Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have endorsed Trump, and suggested moderate voters wouldn’t back Harris due to her “extreme” policies.
“President Trump will continue prosecuting the case against Kamala Harris as more moderates and independents realize Kamala Harris is a dangerous liberal who wants to ban guns, supports freeing violent criminals into our communities, and keeping our border wide open to deadly drugs and criminals,” she said in a statement.
A crucial battleground
In the state’s March 5 Republican primary, Haley received over 250,000 votes, representing nearly a quarter of ballots cast. And according to exit polls, nearly 60% of Haley voters there said they might not support former President Donald Trump if he were the nominee in November.
Meanwhile Trump only carried North Carolina by 74,483 votes in 2020, and recent polls show the race there deadlocked: a Washington Post survey conducted in late-September found Trump up two points, 50-48, well within the margin of error. Tucker suggested Haley voters could well be enough for Harris to overcome that gap.
“If you feel like you have been permanently barred, like we were, by Donald Trump for supporting Nikki Haley, there's a place for you here,” he said.
Considered one of the key 2024 battlegrounds, North Carolina hasn’t gone blue in a presidential election since 2008 — and before that, since 1976. But Democrats have invested heavily there this cycle, and were buoyed by the recent scandal surrounding GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who’s vowing to remain the Republican gubernatorial nominee despite reports that he posted racist and vulgar comments on an online message board.
Last month, for example, the Harris campaign launched an ad tying Trump to the embattled candidate, with a spokesperson suggesting the two are “cut from the same cloth, they share the same goals.”
But further complicating both campaigns’ efforts to woo Tar Heel voters is the continued fallout from Hurricane Helene, which devastated the state just as early voting was set to begin. In response, local election officials moved to loosen some restrictions concerning where and when voters must turn in absentee ballots, and Democratic leaders have pledged to increase efforts to support voters getting to the polls.
“I’m committed, as the national chair of the Democratic Party, to doing everything that we can... to make sure that all the voters in these areas get an opportunity to exercise their right to vote, because it's really, really important that they do so,” said Jamie Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
RELATED STORY | Haley Voters for Harris launches seven-figure ad buy in key swing states
The Haley voter group expansion comes on the heels of the group’s announcement they’d placed a seven-figure ad buy in swing states, including North Carolina, and as the Harris campaign continues to aggressively court Republican voters.
“We know that these are votes we need to earn, and we’re continuing to put in the work everyday to win over the millions of Republicans who are ready to turn the page on the chaos, extremism, and division of Donald Trump,” said Austin Weatherford, National Republican Outreach Director for the Harris-Walz campaign.
