Clinton campaign opens NC office

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign opened a North Carolina office last Friday, a signal that the campaign believes the state will be competitive this year.

“We’ve begun energetic outreach to voters in the state,” said North Carolina communications director Andrew Bates.

The campaign is holding its first event Tuesday night, a watch party at the Raleigh Times. California, New Jersey and three other states hold Democratic primaries Tuesday. North Dakota holds a Democratic caucus. Clinton is expected to win enough delegates Tuesday to clinch the nomination.

State Rep. Larry Hall of Durham, the House minority leader, will be at the watch party.

After years going reliably for Republican presidential candidates, Barack Obama narrowly won North Carolina in 2008 and lost the state narrowly in 2012.

This story was originally published June 6, 2016 at 11:45 AM.