Hillary Clinton is hoping for a second shot in North Carolina this primary season after her 2008 loss.
Clinton opened a campaign headquarters in Raleigh on Feb. 11 — more than a month before the March 15 primary election.
“The Hillary Clinton campaign has enough funding, has a wide enough reach that she and her campaign staff are able to reach into North Carolina even though the primary here isn’t until mid-March,” said Ferrel Guillory, a UNC journalism professor. “It tells you something about the depth of the organization of her campaign, which is certainly deeper and wider than the Bernie campaign and most of the Republican campaigns in terms of organization.”
As of Feb. 16, Clinton is polling 53.3 percent in North Carolina, compared to 30.7 percent for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Clinton has received the support of many Democrats in the state — all three of the state’s Democratic representatives have endorsed Clinton, as well as state House Democratic leader Larry Hall, who spoke at the opening of her headquarters.
Austen High, executive director of the Wake County Democratic Party, said it is especially important for Clinton and other Democratic candidates to campaign in North Carolina because of the state's new voter ID law and the issues with redistricting.
“It’s sort of a time where the Republican-led legislature has done their best to discourage voters,” she said. “But my hope is that our Democratic presidential candidates coming in here and really saying that North Carolina is important to them is hopefully going to get our folks out.”
But the Republican Party will actively campaign against Clinton in North Carolina, said Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the N.C. GOP.
“Mrs. Clinton would be a continuation of Obama’s policies that have been bad for working families, bad for young people in North Carolina,” Woodhouse said. “If she cannot be trusted with security information, she can’t be trusted with the White House.”
