Helene cements voters’ views in western North Carolina

By Adam Aton | 10/28/2024 06:12 AM EDT

“We all already had our mind made up,” said one voter in an area of the swing state hit hard by the climate-fueled hurricane.

Voters make selections at their voting booths inside an early voting site.

Voters make selections at their voting booths inside an early voting site Oct. 17 in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

BLACK MOUNTAIN, North Carolina — When Hurricane Helene hit this swing state, it immediately became fodder in the presidential race.

But conversations with more than 75 residents of western North Carolina suggest the unprecedented, climate-fueled storm has done little to sway voters. Nor has the government response or the misinformation that former President Donald Trump has spread about it.

Instead, political divisions in one of the election’s most competitive battlegrounds have become even more entrenched as hurricane survivors filter the past month through their preexisting worldviews.

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“We all already had our mind made up,” said Dallas Levan, a 75-year-old retired county worker. “If you didn’t have your mind made up a long time ago, you’re stupid.”

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