Candidates plan blitz on North Carolina in final stretch to presidential election

Vice Presidential hopeful Tim Walz was joined by former President Bill Clinton in Durham on Thursday to celebrate the start of early voting.

The Democrats are encouraging supporters to get out and take advantage of early voting opportunities across the Tar Heel state.

Both parties are fighting hard to win North Carolina, as it could swing the entire election.

Democrats historically turn out in higher numbers during early voting, so it's common for candidates of that party to ramp up get out the vote efforts in swing states when early voting gets underway.

The Democrats are encouraging supporters to get out and take advantage of early voting opportunities across the Tar Heel state.

Walz and Clinton gathered at a campaign event at 3 p.m.

Walz told the Durham crowd that Kamala Harris was ready to work for the people and execute her economic plan. He also took shots at Donald Trump, calling him "deranged and desperate."

After the event, Walz is heading west to Winston-Salem where he will hold another rally at 6:30 p.m.

After the Durham event, Clinton will head east and kick off what's being called the Early Vote bus tour. He will visit Wilmington, Fayetteville, Wilson, Greenville, Rocky Mount and Raleigh on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The NCGOP responded to the campaign event with the following statement:

"In their latest desperate attempt, the Harris campaign is sending someone very familiar with losing North Carolina to campaign. However, North Carolina voters aren't fooled: the Harris-Biden Administration has failed North Carolina."

The political visits continue to ramp up across North Carolina as voting is now officially underway for the 2024 election.

Donald Trump announced he would hold a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Monday Oct. 21.

Doors to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum will open at 11 a.m., and Trump is scheduled to start speaking at 3 p.m.

With early voting kicking off on Thursday, Donald Trump's running mate Ohio senator JD Vance was in North Carolina to speak to crowds at a rally event in Wilmington.

There was a lot of energy in the crowd at the Aero Center as Vance took the stage where he drove home many familiar campaign talking points.

"You don't have to agree with everything Donald Trump says, but who can dispute that when he was the president of the United States, we had rising take home pay, we had low inflation, we had a secure southern border, let's get back to it," he said.

During the event, Senator Vance threw some support behind Mark Robinson- commending him for his response to Hurricane Helene. But when asked whether or not he'd endorse Robinson, he dodged the question, focusing instead on the Trump-Vance ticket.

"Look my view on this issue is that who the North Carolina voters make their next governor is up to the people of North Carolina," said Vance. "What I'm here to do is to persuade them that they need to make Donald Trump their next president and I think that's what they're going to do, And we're going to keep on fight for that every single day."

Vance spent a lot of time going after the Harris-Walz campaign - and touched on the devastation in western North Carolina.

"A lot of folks were hit very hard by hurricane Helene and I know that a lot of us are praying people, we ought to say a prayer for those folks, every single day they're fighting to rebuild their lives, their fighting to grieve loved ones, and rebuild out of a terrible, terrible situation," he said.

But the main thing the senator said he hopes people took away from his event - is that he believes Donald Trump will win North Carolina again - and that everyone needs to head to the polls as early voting starts tomorrow.

Thursday is the first day of early voting in North Carolina, and the Kamala Harris campaign will be in the state.

The vice president's running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will be in Durham on Thursday. He'll be joined by a Democratic Party heavy hitter, former President Bill Clinton. The two will encourage early voting and touting the Harris/Walz ticket.

Walz will hold a rally in Winston-Salem later in the evening.

This trip marks Walz's third visit to North Carolina since becoming Harris' running mate. Most recently, he held a campaign rally in Asheville.

Walz is expected to arrive at Raleigh-Durham International Airport about 2 p.m. and participate in a political discussion in Durham at 2:30 p.m.

Clinton will join Walz about 3 p.m.

Walz is expected to deliver remarks at a campaign rally in Winston-Salem about 6:30 p.m. before flying back to Minnesota.