Early voting numbers are “scary” for Harris, Democrats are “panicking,” former Obama campaign manager warns

Jim Messina, Obama's 2012 campaign manager, said Sunday on MSNBC that the early voting numbers were “scary” for the Harris campaign, as data shows Republicans making significant gains with early voting in battleground states compared to 2020 achieve.

“The early voting numbers are a little scary,” Messina said on “Inside with Jen Psaki” when asked what the Harris campaign’s biggest concerns are in the days leading up to an election.

“The Republicans didn’t do what they did last time,” Messina added. “Last time Trump said not to vote early, so they didn’t. Republicans actually have an advantage in the number of early votes. When the early votes come in, it’s going to look a little different than 2020, and that’s scary.”

TRUMP, HARRIS CAMPAIGNS MAKE THE FINAL GAMES AS THE NATION SITS BARELY A DAY BEFORE ELECTION DAY

Jim Messina, Obama's 2012 campaign manager, on MSNBC on Sunday. (MSNBC)

But Messina said Democrats are pleased with early turnout from two key voter groups – women and young voters, demographics that Harris is counting on in the campaign.

“Female voters make up 55% of early voters, and over the past 10 days, young voters have turned out in what appear to be historic early voter numbers in these battleground states,” he said.

Still, Messina added, the early voting results have caused many “my friends to panic” when comparing the data to 2020.

While Democrats have traditionally supported early voting, both parties have pushed voters to cast their ballots early in this election — and the emphasis on early voting has had seismic effects.

New numbers released in Nevada, a key swing state, show historic early voting numbers for Republicans, who led Democrats by about 5% in early voting that ended in person on Friday. Early voting in the state ended with 393,811 votes cast for Republicans, 344,539 for Democrats and 287,762 for other affiliations Foreign Minister website.

MILLIONS OF VOTERS HAVE ALREADY CAST THEIR VOTES FOR NOVEMBER 2011. 5 CHOICE

Voters cast their ballots on the last day of early voting on November 1, 2024 in Gwinnett County, Georgia. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The roughly 49,000-vote lead that Republicans had over Democrats at the end of the week is a stark contrast to 2020, when Democrats ended early voting with a 43,000-vote lead.

Some political pundits and politicians outside the Republican Party have also sounded the alarm for Democrats in Nevada over the surge in Republican early voting.

“Republicans are screwing us over early voting,” said the Democratic congresswoman from Nevada said Dinah Titus during a Harris rally in North Las Vegas. “We can’t allow that.”

In Georgia, Republican seem confident that the state's record-breaking early voting numbers will favor Trump. The former commander in chief lost Georgia by less than 1% in 2020, and Republicans have invested enormous time and resources trying to win it back.

During early voting between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1, nearly 4 million Georgians cast their votes in person or by absentee ballot, more than half of the state's active voters. According to this, over 700,000 people who voted in 2024 did not vote at all in 2020 Georgia votes. These are now the three districts with the highest voter turnout rural areas Won by Trump in 2020.

A Trump campaign source told the New York Post on Sunday that in four battleground states — Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania — “Democrats have more than 1.4 million voters who voted before Election Day in 2020 or 2022 “But we haven’t voted yet.” Many hadn’t even requested an absentee ballot,” the outlet reported.

Citing early voting data from Arizona, the Post reported that Republicans are currently up 8 points due to returned mail and early party registration. Compared to 2020 numbers, Republicans are currently ahead by 9 points, the source said.

On October 31, 2024, voters cast their ballots at an early voting site in Atlanta, Georgia. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

In Nevada, the Post also shows that Republicans are ahead by one point in returns and early voter registration. Compared to 2020, Republicans are ahead by 9 points, the newspaper reported.

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“This appears to be the first time Republicans have won early voting in North Carolina,” the Post wrote.

While Democrats are leading early voting in Pennsylvania, Republicans are reportedly significantly better positioned than they were in 2020, according to the Post.

Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.