Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump had a large contingent of allies making arguments on their behalf.
That included North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
Cooper took himself out of consideration to be Harris' running mate on the Democratic ticket, but on this debate night, he was one of the top surrogates for Harris' campaign.
"Of course, she's part of the administration and she's not going to run away from Joe Biden," Cooper told ABC News. "Joe Biden has been a great president. I do believe he made the right and courageous decision not to run again and to allow Kamala Harris the opportunity to get that nomination. I know that was hard for him but that was the right thing to do."
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Cooper also said Harris' entry into the presidential race had energized people.
"Kamala Harris has taken off, excited people; polls aren't hype in North Carolina, we're the third-fastest-growing state in the country, we were the closest loss for Biden-Harris in 2020, only 1.3%. We are the offensive state, I believe, for the Harris campaign this time," Cooper said. "They're going to try to protect everything they won in 2020 and get North Carolina and as I've said many times, Kamala Harris wins North Carolina, she is the next president of the United States."
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Back in the Tar Heel State, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican gubernatorial candidate also responded to Tuesday night's presidential debate.
Robinson said, in part: "Harris lied about everything from crime and inflation to the massive border crisis they created. President Trump will fight to secure our borders, crack down on violent crime and tackle inflation, and I'll do everything I can to help him do it."