Dems Eye Rare Ga.-N.C. Sweep With Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris' surge in the polls after replacing President Joe Biden as the Democrat presidential nominee has some party members hopeful of winning both Georgia and North Carolina for the first time in nearly 50 years, Bloomberg News reported.

Former President Jimmy Carter was the last Democrat to capture both Southern swing states when he defeated incumbent President Gerald Ford in 1976.

The latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of registered voters in seven swing states shows Harris leading former President Donald Trump in both states by 2 percentage points, within the margin of error.

CNN reported Wednesday that its swing-state poll results included Harris leading Trump 48% to 47% in Georgia, virtually a tie.

The Cook Political Report last week moved North Carolina from "lean Republican" to a "toss up."

East Carolina University poll results Wednesday showed that Trump leads Harris 48% to 47% in North Carolina, with 3% undecided and 2% planning to support another candidate.

If Harris wins North Carolina, she has a 96.7% chance of winning the election, according to political analyst Nate Silver's Voter Power Index. Trump would have a 76.6% chance of winning the electoral college if he wins the Tar Heel State.

In July, Trump led Harris by 2 points in North Carolina and the two were tied in Georgia.

The Trump campaign sees Harris' recent poll numbers as being a result of a post-Democratic National Convention effect.

"We believe, internally, based on the data, that the plateau's been reached," Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes said, Bloomberg News reported.

North Carolina last voted for a Democrat president in 2008 (Barack Obama). Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes in 2020 to become the first Democrat to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1992.

In the August Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll, Harris enjoyed double-digit gains in support among women, voters aged 18-34 and seniors 65 and older in North Carolina and smaller but notable increases among those groups in Georgia compared to Biden.

The vice president's share of Black voters in each state exceeded Biden's numbers.

Also, when voters were asked who they trust more on the economy, Harris trails Trump by single digits in both Georgia and North Carolina. Biden had trailed by more than 10 percentage points in each state before he ended his reelection campaign.