“North Carolina’s reliable for me,” Trump said at Dorton Arena in Raleigh, the first of four stops on Election Day Eve. “Never lost. And I don’t think we’re going to start now.”

The Trump campaign emphasized early voting across the country. In North Carolina, in-person early voting started in all 100 counties on Oct. 17 and ended on Nov. 2 at 3 p.m.

The State Board of Elections reported that more than 4.2 million residents cast early voting ballots—a record number.

The previous high for early voting happened in 2020, when more than 3.6 million ballots were cast.

Including absentee voting, 4,465,548 voters—or 57 percent of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters—cast ballots in the general election as of Nov. 3, according to the state board.

Official turnout could be even higher because of a lag between when ballots are turned in and when data is uploaded.

Lorena Castillo-Ritz, chair of the Mecklenburg County GOP in a region anchored by left-leaning Charlotte, said that the Trump campaign, conservative PACs, and her organization embarked on a “strong ground game” that targeted “low-propensity voters” who are registered to vote but did not cast their ballot in 2020.

“When we get people to vote who didn’t vote in the last election, that adds up and makes a significant impact in the overall numbers statewide,” Castillo-Ritz told The Epoch Times.

“We’re hopeful that getting the low-propensity voters to the polls in our area, and other urban areas across North Carolina, elevates President Trump to a win here.”

First in Line

Tony Caraccio is a 21-year-old HVAC professional in Asheboro. He was first in line at the Election Day eve rally in Raleigh, arriving at midnight for Trump’s scheduled 10 a.m. address. He believes that early voting numbers will benefit Trump when the ballots are counted.

“There was a widespread grassroots movement for early voting that we haven’t seen in the last few cycles. The campaign learned from its mistakes and focused on getting absentee ballots and early voting so that the election is too big to rig,” he said.

“I was too young to vote in 2020 and thought I’d never have a chance to vote for Trump. I wish the circumstances didn’t lead to him not winning then and running now, but at least I had the chance to vote for him this time.”

Turnout in the 25 western North Carolina counties impacted by Hurricane Helene was 58.9 percent—around 2 percent higher than the statewide total, the state board said.

Over the weekend, at a rally in Kinston, Trump praised the people who voted early in areas where homes and businesses were swept away by mudslides and flooding from Helene.

“Many of these people don’t even have a house anymore. The devastation is like something never seen. It’s largely areas where people like Trump that were affected, and even with all of that devastation, they turned out in record numbers early,” Trump said.

“The people of your state, the people of North Carolina, are amazing. I thought we would get 50 percent of the number that voted in 2020. [Instead] they broke the record,” he added.

Holding 16 Electoral College votes, North Carolina is a battleground state that both candidates covet.

Barack Obama became the first Democrat presidential candidate to win North Carolina in 30 years when he defeated John McCain in 2008. Trump prevailed in 2016 and then edged Biden by 1.3 percent of the vote in 2020.

Roy Cooper, who has served as governor since 2017, is a Democrat. He spoke in Raleigh before Harris took the stage as did attorney general Josh Stein, who is running for governor against Republican nominee Mark Robinson.

On Election Day eve, Trump held a 1.3 percent lead over Harris in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.

The western portion of the state was severely impacted by flooding and mudslides from Hurricane Helene, displacing many residents. The mountains of western North Carolina are considered a Republican stronghold.

The 25 counties that compose the disaster area have 1.3 million registered voters. In 2020, Trump won 604,119 votes to Joe Biden’s 356,902 votes in those counties, according to political analyst Ray Bonifay, who highlighted the importance of the region in an Oct. 18 commentary on RealClearPolitics.

Amid the surge of Republican early voters, the Harris campaign canceled $2 million in ad reservations in North Carolina media markets on Oct. 29, according to AdImpact. The previous day, the campaign reserved $2.7 million for an ad blitz.

The Carolina Journal reported that Harris was not abandoning the state but that she was shifting her focus to the Raleigh-Durham market.

In Charlotte on Nov. 2, Harris courted conservatives who are reluctant to support the former president.

“We know we have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump, who has been trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other,” Harris said.

Harris said that she will “represent all Americans, including those who don’t vote for me” and that “the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.”

Trump, she said, is focused on revenge and personal interests while she will put country over party.

“Donald Trump will walk in with an enemies list” if he is elected, Harris added.

“When I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list, full of priorities I will get done for you the American people,” she said.

Voting Habits

Nathaniel Scripa moved to North Carolina from Syracuse, New York to live in a state that was more conservative, he told The Epoch Times.

“Now a lot of people from New York and other blue states are moving here and bringing with them their voting habits, which doesn’t make sense because the liberal policies that made their states so terrible are what led many of them here,” he said.

“That makes early voting, and getting people who usually don’t vote to get to the polls, important in this election,” he added.

Harris held rallies centered around the “When We Vote, We Win” motto. Trump believes that, in North Carolina and nationwide, the increase in Republican early voting combined with a traditional strong showing at the polls on Election Day will result in his victory.

“It’s ours to lose,” Trump said in Raleigh. “If we get everybody out and vote, there’s not a thing they can do.”

“Longtime residents who I used to see were no longer there. They moved out, and Haitian migrants moved in. They didn’t speak English. I started to see a lot of foot traffic on the streets. And you could see a dozen or more people coming and going from the houses. It was clear there were a lot of people living in the houses,” Zimmers told The Epoch Times.

Skinner, who serves with Zimmers on the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, observed a similar transition in her neighborhood.

“We used to know everyone, and mostly everyone got along, but then we started seeing more turnover on our street. We no longer knew many of our neighbors,” Skinner said.

“It used to be a quiet and peaceful place to live. Now, we have several houses where several Haitian families are living in a home intended for one family. And sometimes we get harassed by people who are yelling at us in a foreign language. We have to be more cautious. This is not the Springfield I once knew,” Skinner said.

A blue-collar city that saw many of its factories shut down decades ago, Springfield’s population declined to less than 60,000—until the last few years. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian migrants have arrived here over that span.

Residents have voiced concern and frustration over safety issues and a strain on resources. City leaders have acknowledged that changes must be made to effectively accommodate its residents and the migrants.

The conversation was mostly confined to Springfield and Clark County until the presidential debate earlier this week. At an Aug. 27 city council meeting, some residents alleged that Haitians were killing cats, dogs, ducks, and geese for food.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump’s running mate, said that his office had been inundated with those claims.

Vance wrote on X that “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”

Early in the Sept. 10 presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump said, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

City officials and police said they had not received reports of Haitians eating animals.

Springfield Strategic Engagement Manager Karen Graves told The Epoch Times earlier this week, “There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
In a statement on Sept. 10, a Springfield police spokesperson said the same thing.

On Sept. 11, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wrote in a post on X, “There’s a recorded police call from a witness who saw immigrants capturing geese for food in Springfield.”

He also noted that citizens testified to city council about incidents of Haitian migrants killing geese.

“These people would be competent witnesses in court. Why does the media find a carefully worded City Hall press release better evidence?” Yost wrote.

Over the last week, tension has risen in Springfield.

On Sept. 12, Springfield City Hall and an elementary school were evacuated after multiple city facilities received bomb threats, according to police. Clark County officials reported that every county building was closed that day out of “an abundance of caution.”

The next day, two elementary schools were evacuated and a middle school was closed in Springfield “based on information received from the Springfield Police Division,” according to school officials.

Outside of Ohio, many Americans had never heard of Springfield until Trump’s comments. Now, residents told The Epoch Times, it is drawing national attention for the wrong reasons.

“The animal reports are good for media clickbait, but the real story here—what has created a crisis—is how the residents are being negatively impacted,” Zimmers said.

“This wasn’t put to a vote. We didn’t ask for this, and our city leaders did not put proper infrastructure in place to prepare for the migrants and to address the challenges it would cause for the residents who are U.S. citizens,” Skinner said.

The Department of Homeland Security earlier this year announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians until Feb. 3, 2026, protecting them from deportation back to Haiti. This includes migrants who entered the U.S. illegally and those who overstayed their visas.

In 2023, the U.S. State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave Haiti amid widespread violence and unrest after the assassination of its president, Jovenel Moise, in 2021.

The country is currently listed by the U.S. Embassy as “Level 4–Do Not Travel” because of crime, kidnappings, poor health care infrastructure, and unrest.

According to the city of Springfield “Immigrants with TPS are legally qualified to receive financial assistance, health and nutrition services, employment and education services, and housing services. Since immigrants granted TPS must apply for an Employment Authorization Document that can take up to several months to receive, they may need assistance until they can legally seek employment.”

Springfield had a small Haitian population before 2021, when illegal border entries began to break records. A shortage of entry-level and blue-collar workers made the city an ideal destination, especially because of its low cost of living compared to major metro areas.

Topre, a Japanese auto parts manufacturer, expanded in 2022, drawing Haitian migrants.

While companies needing to fill vacant positions welcomed the surge of Haitian migrants, challenges escalated in the city.

Kyle Koehler, a former state representative in the district that represents Springfield, is a candidate for state Senate in the region that covers three counties, including Clark, where Springfield is located.

The cultural differences between residents and migrants have resulted in tension, he said.

“They don’t understand the laws; they don’t understand some of our customs. We don’t understand some of their customs, and that clash and the overwhelming amount of people that have come at one point has really caused some issues,” Koehler said.

In a recent campaign speech, Koehler said that the Haitian migrants in Springfield receive between $600 and $1,600 a month on debit cards through the Refugee Cash Assistance program. They can also access public assistance programs available to U.S. citizens.

“As of this month, our local Job and Family Services has registered over 20,000 Haitian refugees in our county and city. Springfield, which had a steady population of 58,000 … now has an additional 20,000 new residents in and around Springfield—20,000 people in just under four years,” Koehler said.

He said that Springfield’s public school system now has more than 1,600 non-English speaking students.

“Our Federally Qualified Health Care (FQHC) called Rocking Horse is overwhelmed with the increase in Haitians that are automatically qualified for Medicaid services. City, county, and state leaders are overwhelmed with complaints that they can do very little about fixing,” he said.

Before arriving in Springfield, Haitian migrants had little or no health care services.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced earlier this week that he is dedicating $2.5 million toward expanding primary care access for Springfield residents. He has directed the Ohio Department of Health to work with the Clark County Health Department and other health care providers.

“We will continue to do everything we can to help the community deal with this surge of migrants,“ DeWine said at a Sept. 11 press conference. ”The federal government has not demonstrated that they have any kind of plan to deal with the issue. We will not walk away.”

Part of DeWine’s plan includes the creation of a school-based health clinic in the Springfield City School District, increasing support for vaccinations and health screenings through the local health department.

Also, allocating additional funds to the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services for translation services, providing funding to Clark State College for services to teach English to Haitians, as well as providing driving simulators, and offering driver education classes targeted to the Haitian community, and working with the Springfield School District.

DeWine implored the federal government to provide more resources.

“These dramatic migrant surges impact every citizen in the community—the moms who have to wait hours in a waiting room with a sick child, everyone who drives on our streets, and the children who go to school in more crowded classrooms,” the governor said.

“The federal government does not have a plan to give any support to the communities impacted by surges, and we have absolutely no indication that a plan is coming in the near future.”

Yost recently said he is ordering an investigation into ways to halt what he describes as “extreme population growth” attributed to migrants moving to Springfield.

“How many people can they be expected to take? What are the limits to the federal government’s power? Could the federal government simply funnel into Ohio all the millions of migrants flooding in under the current administration’s watch?” Yost asked.

“The problem is not migrants; it is way, way too many migrants in a short period of time,” he said.

“The problem is a massive increase in the population without any communication or assistance from the federal government.”

The immigration debate among residents, local officials, and migrants reached a breaking point last summer when 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed in a traffic accident that involved a Haitian migrant.

The boy was aboard a school bus that collided with a minivan that crossed over the dividing line driven by 36-year-old Hermanio Joseph.

Joseph was sentenced to nine to 13-and-a-half years in prison for first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter and fourth-degree felony vehicular homicide.

Nathan Clark, Aiden’s father, chastised conservative politicians for using the child’s death for political gain.

“My son, Aiden Clark, was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti,” Clark said at a recent city council meeting.

“They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis, and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members,” he said. “However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark of Springfield, Ohio.”

Last December, a day after her 71st birthday, Springfield grandmother Kathy Heaton was killed when a car driven by a Haitian migrant struck her while she was gathering her garbage cans.

Prosecutors decided that the driver of the car, 38-year-old Robenson Louis, wouldn’t be charged.

At a city council meeting earlier this week, Mandy Heaton, Kathy’s daughter-in-law, said the decision left their family “devastated.”

Louis was operating a car with expired license plates.

On Sept. 11, DeWine dispatched the Ohio State Highway Patrol to help local law enforcement with traffic issues in Springfield.

Residents have complained for months that Haitian migrants are getting temporary driving permits but not getting licenses.

One resident, who asked to remain anonymous because of her position in the public eye, told The Epoch Times that there are “several accidents every day,” and she has seen cars “drive into buildings and onto sidewalks, go the wrong way down one-way streets, make U-turns right in the middle of the road, and run over street signs and into yards.”

“They get behind the wheel with little or no education and training about driving laws here, and many of them don’t understand English, so they can’t read the street signs,” Zimmers said.

Malc Joseph arrived in Springfield last year with his 11-year-old son, Marcley. They fled from Haiti and lived in Philadelphia before moving to Ohio because of the lower cost of living.

“We were welcomed when we got here, and it was good because there was a big adjustment coming from a big city. After the accident, it started to change. I’m afraid for my safety. People are saying we are eating cats and dogs. That’s not part of our culture. We don’t do that,” he said.

Lindsay Aime is the treasurer for the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield. He told The Epoch Times that he acknowledges that there are cultural differences and encourages residents to be patient as the Haitian population adapts to American customs.

“Learning the language and the culture takes time. I don’t think Americans understand how difficult it is. We don’t have an established Haitian community here like in bigger cities. We need more time to integrate ourselves here. Just give us time,” Aime said.

“We are good workers, hard workers. We are paying taxes. We are customers for businesses. We want to have a positive presence here, and we’re here to stay. We can’t go back to Haiti.”

B.J. Newman is a pastor who works in Springfield. He told The Epoch Times he sympathizes with the Haitian migrants but also believes that residents should be shown more understanding.

“I’m extraordinarily compassionate to the plight of the immigrants. We just need to make sure that compassion goes in both directions. If you drive through Springfield, it doesn’t look like there’s anything out of the ordinary. This isn’t like the BLM riots, where there is violence and destruction on the streets. But there is a crisis. This happens when such a high number of refugees come here in a short time,” he said.

“Anytime you have a population jump of 20,000 in a short time, problems are bound to happen. The fact that they’re from a very different culture, I think, is what’s creating the real friction.”

Kelly Combs is a Registered Nurse who worked for a health care network on a team that provides perinatal outreach to at-risk families, including Haitians in Springfield.

She told The Epoch Times she empathizes with migrants and residents alike.

“They came here for a better life, but now many of them are afraid to leave their homes,” Combs said about the Haitian migrants. “Residents feel like it is an invasion because the refugees don’t know proper etiquette, and there is a drastic cultural difference that is creating tension.”

Combs works as a nursing instructor at Clark State Community College, which is located in downtown Springfield. She lives with her husband in a village five miles outside the city limits, so she is insulated from the migrant crisis there, but she worries about driving downtown.

“There is an intersection I pass through every day I’m at work, and there are accidents there seemingly every day,” Combs said. “You have to be attentive when you’re driving here. You can’t afford to get distracted.”

Housing is also a critical issue in Springfield.

Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck addressed the housing shortage in a July letter to U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Vance was copied on the correspondence. Heck wrote that the housing issue has presented a “crisis” for the city dating back to 2018, and the issue has worsened since the surge of Haitian migrants.

The number of affordable housing vouchers has declined as some landlords have moved to market-based rents, which increased amid higher demand.

Multiple residents told The Epoch Times that landlords have kept increasing the rents for local residents to the point they can no longer afford to pay, choosing instead to attract Haitian migrants.

Fred Stegner is president and founder of the Springfield Soup Kitchen, which serves a free hot meal to anyone who walks through the door on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

He told The Epoch Times that landlords raising their rents to a level where residents can no longer afford to pay has contributed to the homeless problem in Springfield.

“It makes me angry. I’m a veteran, and I’ve had many veterans come in here telling me they are getting evicted because they can’t pay their rent. This shouldn’t be happening to U.S. citizens. I know the migrants are escaping a difficult life, but there should be a compound set up for them to live. And landlords shouldn’t be allowed to drive out the residents because they know they can make a lot of money off the Haitians,” he said.

Stegner mentioned that homeless shelters in the community have closed, and he is concerned about the safety of the homeless population, with winter just a few months away.

During an Aug. 15 Latino Town Hall on TikTok, he told the moderators that the story is “fake news.”

“I didn’t ask for a cabinet position,” Kennedy said.

“I want to meet with all candidates about dampening down the rhetoric and unifying our country.”

Kennedy said candidates, including former President Donald Trump and Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver, have met with him.

“Kamala Harris said she doesn’t want to [meet],” he said.

Kennedy has repeatedly said at campaign stops and in interviews with media outlets and on podcasts that he would always welcome conversations with opposing candidates, media outlets, and podcasters who do not share his views.

He told The Epoch Times that many Democrats and Republicans acknowledge the division in America but then get mad “if you meet with Trump or Kamala Harris.” He said he is “willing to take the heat by working to build a bridge between both sides.”

Kennedy, who is attempting to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, met with Trump last month in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention. The Washington Post reported that Kennedy discussed dropping out of the race to back the former president and join his administration if he returns to the White House.

The purpose of meeting with President Trump was to talk about the chronic disease epidemic and children’s health, Kennedy said. He denied that he would end his presidential bid and support the former president.

Democrats and Republicans alike have expressed concern that Kennedy could take away votes from their respective presidential candidates.

Earlier this year, the DNC hired Lis Smith, a veteran Democrat strategist who managed Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, to spearhead an aggressive communication plan to combat Kennedy, independent Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

In recent months, the DNC and Clear Choice, a super PAC aligned with Biden to counter third-party presidential candidates, have objected to Kennedy’s appearance on the ballot, making legal filings in multiple states.

Last week, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that Kennedy falsely listed that he was a New York resident on his nominating petitions. As a result, he was removed from the state’s general election ballot, a decision Kennedy has appealed.

The DNC has called Kennedy a “stalking horse” to “prop up” Trump. Kennedy, meanwhile, has accused the DNC of trying to win the election in courtrooms and keep voters from having another choice.

Regarding the report that Kennedy sought a meeting with Harris, Matt Corridoni, a DNC spokesman.said, “No one has any intention of negotiating with a MAGA-funded fringe candidate who has sought out a job with Donald Trump in exchange for an endorsement.”

David Carlucci, a former Democratic New York state senator who is now a Democratic strategist, told The Epoch Times that Kennedy’s attempt to reach out to Harris “speaks to the issue that many voters already know: Kamala Harris will be elected as our next president.”

Kennedy’s actions during his campaign have “repeatedly shown that his judgment is not suitable for the presidency or any other leadership role in government,” he said.

Stefanie Spear, Kennedy’s press secretary, told The Epoch Times in a statement that “Mr. Kennedy is willing to meet with leaders of both parties to discuss the possibility of a unity government” and has done so since he entered the presidential race.