By Deepa Shivaram, Franco Ordoñez, Asma Khalid, Danielle Kurtzleben, Stephen Fowler, NPR
Election Day is tomorrow. That means one last mad dash by former President Donald Trump and Vice President Harris to try to drum up excitement and motivate supporters to get to the polls in a race that polls have shown as essentially tied — and one big symbolic hurrah at the end, for each of them.
Trump will wrap up with a late-night rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he closed out his 2016 win — and went back to in 2020, noting he was "a little superstitious."
Harris, who has called herself the "underdog" of the 2024 race, will end with a concert at the "Rocky Steps" of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous in the ultimate underdog movie.
Here's what the rest of the day looks like.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at the Dorton Arena on Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump kicks off in North Carolina
Trump's Raleigh venue — Dorton Arena — was one of his stops on the final day of the campaign in 2016. But unlike 2016, 2020, and even earlier in 2024, Trump took the stage in front of a less-than-capacity crowd in the roughly 7,500-person arena.
Starting 50 minutes late, Trump projected optimism about his chances Tuesday and claimed to be winning in all seven swing states.
“I hate the expression, actually, but it's ours to lose,” he said. “Does that make sense to you? It's ours to lose.”
Republicans carried North Carolina for decades, with the exception of former President Barack Obama in 2008. Trump won it twice.
But the race with Harris has been very competitive, and Trump has spent more time in North Carolina than in Pennsylvania — another state that is key to his path to victory. In the western part of the state, Hurricane Helene devastated multiple counties and threatened to upend the voting process.
The governor's race, where unpopular GOP nominee Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has faced numerous controversies, threatens to drag down Trump at the top of the ticket.
President Biden dropped off doughnuts to campaign volunteers organized by AFSCME/AFL-CIO in Scranton, Pa., on Nov. 2, 2024.Ting Shen/AFP
Harris starts in Scranton, Pa. — the hometown of Joe Biden
Harris is spending her entire day in Pennsylvania, starting in Scranton — an odd choice, perhaps, given that she has been trying to draw some distinctions between herself and President Biden.
Biden hasn't been out on the trail much. But on Saturday, he made one of his very few campaign stops in Scranton. He'll be at the White House on Monday when Harris speaks to canvassers before they head out to knock on doors.
A woman holds a sign at a rally organized by the Democratic party in Reading, Pa., on Nov. 2, 2024.Carmen Russell-Sluchansky/WHYY
They'll both be in Pennsylvania's 'Latino corridor'
Both candidates have been fighting to win over Latino voters in Pennsylvania this year. There are about 580,000 Latino voters living in the state, most of them with Puerto Rican ties.
Democrats found a new opening after a comedian called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" during Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, touching off outrage in the Latino community.
Trump is slated to hold a rally in Reading at 2 p.m. ET, while Harris is having one in Allentown, an hour's drive up the Hwy. 222 corridor. Afterward, she'll stop by a Puerto Rican restaurant in Reading with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Former President Donald Trump watches the Pittsburgh Steelers play a home game against the New York Jets on Oct. 20, 2024.Evan Vucci/AP
Second-last stops: dueling Pittsburgh rallies
Before they head off to their big finales, each candidate will stop in Steeltown. Trump is slated to hold a rally here at 6 p.m. ET, while Harris will give remarks at her rally around 8:30 p.m. ET. Both candidates have spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh, a former Democratic bastion when the Republicans have made major inroads, during the campaign. Harris will be joined by D-Nice, Katy Perry and Andra Day.
The fact that Harris is spending her entire final day in Pennsylvania shows how important this state and its 19 votes in the Electoral College are to Democrats.
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