WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will travel to North Carolina next week to pitch his new jobs plan, his third stop on a sales tour to get voters behind the proposal.

The White House says the trip to the Raleigh-Durham area will be Wednesday. On Tuesday Obama heads to Columbus, Ohio. He made his first pitch Friday in Richmond, Va., a day after presenting the nearly $450 billion plan in a speech to Congress.

Obama's travels are taking him to politically important states and GOP-friendly territory. North Carolina is traditionally Republican but Obama won the state in 2008.