Early voting turnout has sparked concern for Kamala Harris, with a former Obama campaign manager describing the numbers as ‘scary.’ Explore the challenges facing Harris’s campaign and the implications of early voting trends.
Jim Messina, the campaign manager for former US President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election, has described the early voting figures in the US presidential election as “scary” for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
During an interview on Sunday with MSNBC host and former White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, Messina issued the warning.
“The early voting figures are somewhat concerning,” he mentioned.
The former Obama campaign manager noted that supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump have been significantly more active this time around compared to the previous election.
He noted that this time, Republicans approached early voting differently than before. Previously, Trump had advised against it, and they followed his lead. However, now the Republican numbers in early voting show an advantage. This means the initial results will likely differ from those seen in 2020.
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Messina mentioned to Psaki that the early voting numbers have “caused many of our mutual friends to call me in a panic.”
However, he emphasized that Harris’ campaign has reason to be “very, very happy.” The former campaign manager explained that this is due to two voting blocs, considered vital for the Democratic candidate, which are showing strong support.
Women constitute over half of the early voters, and according to Messina, “young voters in these battleground states have been turning out in what appear to be historic numbers over the past ten days.”
Based on NBC’s data, 76.2 million mail-in and early in-person votes have already been cast nationwide in the US.
Of the early voters, 41% are Democrats and 39% are Republicans, while the party affiliation of the remaining 20% is not specified.
Nevertheless, in four of the seven battleground states, a larger number of Republicans voted compared to Democrats. The most significant margin was observed in Arizona, where 42% were Republicans against 33%.
NBC’s data indicates that of the early voters, 53% were women and 20% were individuals aged between 18 and 39. In the United States, Election Day falls on Tuesday, November 5.
