MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Across the country, a lot of people have already cast their ballots, but a lot of people haven't, and they are heading to the polls today, including in swing states critical to both Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump. We have reports from NPR stations in three states now, starting in Michigan.
QUINN KLINEFELTER, BYLINE: I'm Quinn Klinefelter in Detroit. I'm walking along Woodward Avenue, one of the main streets in this majority Black motor city. It runs by affordable housing developments, many multicultural restaurants and a skyline dominated by General Motors' headquarters. It also features a kind of microcosm of some of the issues facing voters here.
SAVANNAH ROBINS: I'm very scared for the people of Palestine. I'm also concerned for my Jewish neighbors.
KLINEFELTER: Savannah Robins (ph) is having lunch near City Hall. She supports Vice President Harris. But Robin says she knows many people in Metro Detroit's large Arab American population who question whether they'll back her because of President Biden's administration's support for Israel. Further down the avenue, Iyana Johnson (ph) pushes a walker on the sidewalk. Johnson says she can barely afford her rent on her fixed income.
IYANA JOHNSON: Social Security is an issue because I'm a senior. Trump gets in office and he's talking about taking it away. What are people going to do? Where are they going to go?
KLINEFELTER: Johnson says she already voted for Harris because she fears former President Donald Trump. But in a metro area that depends on manufacturing, Trump's vow to add huge tariffs on foreign-made goods resonates with some auto workers and some who drive for a living.
MICHAEL GEE: Hey. Quinn? Hey, how are you doing?
KLINEFELTER: Right chair driver Michael Gee (ph) says his top issue is the same as many other people's, the high price of goods and services. Even though inflation has cooled off, Gee says it just felt better when Trump was in office.
GEE: I think people were more confident. Things were running smoother, could provide for our family. I was in 7-Eleven yesterday. Eggs were $6.99 for a dozen eggs. I've never seen eggs that expensive in my life.
KLINEFELTER: Detroiter Ricardo Copeland (ph), who attended a recent Trump rally in nearby Warren, says he's against any corporate tax hikes.
RICARDO COPELAND: You don't tax the rich. You give the rich tax breaks. (Laughter) I don't understand. That's when everything will come down. McDonald's is not going to take the hit. They're going to put it on that Happy Meal. Put that on the consumer. Give them tax breaks, they hire people.
KLINEFELTER: Trump is trying to win over voters in this majority Black city, even as Harris is relying on the overwhelmingly Democratic electorate to turn out in large numbers. For NPR News, I'm Quinn Klinefelter in Detroit.
STEVE HARRISON, BYLINE: And I'm Steve Harrison in Charlotte, North Carolina, to get an idea of how much attention this state is getting. There was a time this past weekend when the vice president's plane and former President Donald Trump's 757 both shared the tarmac at Charlotte Douglas Airport. Trump held a rally in rural suburban Gaston County, while Vice President Harris spoke in an amphitheater outside of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County. People like Heather Ahern (ph) of Greensboro were really excited but also exhausted.
HEATHER AHERN: You got to check your mental health. And there have been times when people want to start down that political dialogue, and I just say I can't right now. I'm knee deep in it.
HARRISON: Trump narrowly won North Carolina four years ago by just over 74,000 votes. But this year, Democrats think they can win the state for the first time since Obama in 2008. They're hopeful because people keep moving to majority blue cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. And the state is more diverse than 2020. Tina McCoy (ph) from Waxhaw, outside of Charlotte, used to live in Tennessee but wanted to move to a place where she had a realistic chance of helping Democrats win.
TINA MCCOY: So we needed to loop to a state where our views mattered.
HARRISON: North Carolina is a state critical to Trump's chances and his final schedule showed that, with four rallies in the last three days, including Monday morning in Raleigh. State Republicans are confident because for the first time since early voting started here in 2000, more Republicans than Democrats voted early in a presidential election.
JASON WILLIAMS: I think Republicans have, you know, normally been far more traditional in their voting habits, see Election Day as, you know, Election Day.
HARRISON: That's conservative activist Jason Williams from Gaston County, who says Republicans now understand it makes strategic sense to bank votes.
WILLIAMS: And frankly, it's just been a grassroots operation of knocking doors and telling people the importance of getting out and voting early.
HARRISON: A month ago, Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina. But so far, turnout has been relatively strong in the counties that were flooded. For NPR News, Steve Harrison in Charlotte, North Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Bootcamp, are you ready?
PAUL BOGER, BYLINE: And I'm Paul Boger at Taco Fest in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, campaigns are doing everything they can to get voters to the polls in the final hours, especially the state's Latino community. Sandwiched between the Luce Libre wrestling matches, taco vendors, live music and a car show, Republican and Democratic campaigns are making this annual festival a priority.
SAM BROWN: Well, hey, it's great to be here at Taco Fest.
BOGER: That was Sam Brown, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, who's writing against Democratic incumbent Jackie Rosen.
BROWN: My last pledge is - or request is get out to vote.
BOGER: In Nevada, roughly 1 in 5 voters are Latino. In 2020, President Biden narrowly won the state in part by winning 60% to the Latino vote. But this year, polls suggest former President Donald Trump has been making inroads. Holding a Latino Americans for Trump sign, Will Llamas (ph), an HVAC technician, smiles as he takes a picture with the Republican Senate hopeful. He says Trump doesn't pander to the Latino community.
WILL LLAMAS: A lot of people don't like what he says. And that's only a human thing, right? But the principals are there, and I believe that the principles are incorrect.
BOGER: On the other side of the strip, Isabella Rodriguez (ph), a student at the University in Nevada Las Vegas, is preparing to canvass for Vice President Harris. If Harris wins, she says it would be an inspiration.
ISABELLA RODRIGUEZ: I want an actual - where I can look forward to new possibilities for young women to be encouraged by a first female president. That would be amazing.
BOGER: For others, though, no amount of campaigning is going to matter. Back at Taco Fest, Geraldo Garcia (ph), a landscaper, says he voted for Biden in 2020. But this time around, he's not going to bother filling out a ballot.
GERALDO GARCIA: Democrats have lied to Latinos, and Republicans have not even promised anything. So there's nothing for us in it.
BOGER: Right now, he's much more interested in what's happening in the wrestling ring in front of him.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON # 2: Get up.
UNIDENTIFIED REFEREE: One, two, three.
(CHEERING)
BOGER: For NPR News, I'm Paul Boger in Las Vegas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.