As President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris gear up for November’s general election, the Biden-Harris campaign focuses on essential parts of the Democratic Party’s base, including young voters and voters of color. The campaign recently held events in Nevada and North Carolina to highlight accomplishments from the first Biden-Harris term, draw a contrast between Biden and Trump and mobilize support ahead of Election Day.
Cedric Richmond, the national co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign, held an event on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. Richmond met with young Black leaders and shared a message focused on achievements of the Biden administration, such as cutting Black unemployment and lowering insulin prices, as well as warning of the possible consequences of a return of President Trump.
“Our economy and our democracy are still recovering from the divisions and damage Donald Trump sowed,” Richmond warned, adding, “We simply can’t afford another four years.”
Even though the state’s Feb. 6 Democratic primary was not competitive — Biden won nearly 90% of the vote — the campaign set up shop early in Nevada. The Biden team viewed that state as a place to test its message to voters and viewed setting up a ground game in Nevada as a high priority; Democrats have won the state in the last four presidential elections. The close margins make Nevada a swing state that could help decide the election outcome.
Meanwhile, the vice president traveled to North Carolina on March 1. Alongside Department of the Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, Harris was in Durham to promote the administration’s support for small businesses, especially those owned by women and people of color. She and Adeyemo, with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, specifically highlighted $32 million allocated to venture capital firms run by women or people of color to invest in small businesses in the state.
While in Durham, Harris also participated in a youth organizing training, meeting with dozens of young activists. Dorian Palmer, the president of the Young Democrats of North Carolina, said, “It was incredible having Vice President Harris join us for the Youth Organizing Training last week” and touted the administration for crucial infrastructure repairs in the state. For 16-year-old Daniel Patterson, president of the North Carolina Association of Teen Democrats, the administration’s focus on preventing gun violence resonated most loudly.
“I don’t want to be in what’s considered the ‘Lockdown Generation’ any longer and in NC we’ve all shown up in the streets to speak against inaction on gun violence,” Patterson said, praising the administration for working with young activists to address the issue.
Biden has had an easy path within the Democratic Party, facing no real challenge for the party’s nomination. Still, there has been concern that discontent over the administration’s foreign policy and a stalled domestic agenda on issues like police reform and voting rights might cause Black voters and young progressives to stay home on Election Day. So far, the president has been able to mobilize young supporters and voters of color during the primary season, and the administration appears focused on strengthening these areas of support as it looks toward November.