With 12 days to go until Election Day, both presidential campaigns are making a big push for North Carolina.
It's a state Democrats have been hoping to flip for the first time since 2008, and they believe young voters and college students are a key part of that equation.
On Thursday, cheered on by a sea of Blue Devils, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was betting on a blue North Carolina.
On Thursday, cheered on by a sea of Blue Devils, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was betting on a blue North Carolina.
"What's gonna win is each and every one of you encouraging somebody to their better angels," the Democratic vice presidential nominee told the crowd gathered at the Duke University student union.
With an early voting site on campus, Walz hoped hoping students would go straight from the rally to the polls.
Walz's speech hit some of the Democrats' main points, such as change and reproductive rights.
Walz also weighed in on recent comments made by former President Donald Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly.
"(Trump's) tendencies toward leaning toward dictatorship is un-American," Walz said. "it is absolutely horrific the things they're proposing, but here's what I say is you know what's great about that he is never going to be president again, he is never going to be president."
But before he left, Walz, a former high school assistant football coach, had to go where he felt right at home.
"It really does have a high school gym feel to it, that's great," he said entering Cameron Indoor Stadium.
He got a quick tour of the court and met Duke men's basketball head coach Jon Scheyer.
And while that photo op might help lock up Duke voters, the campaign is also making sure to be equal opportunity. Doug Emhoff appeared in Tar Heel country this week.
Ending with some basketball bipartisanship, Emhoff posted on X "UNC and Duke students will always be rivals - but they both agree on one thing: voting for Kamala"
After leaving from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Walz headed for events in Greenville followed by Wilmington where he was set to appear with music artist James Taylor.