Former President Clinton rallies Democratic voters in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Former President Bill Clinton's early voting bus tour with Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is moving along in North Carolina to drive support for Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.

An evening event was planned through a meetup with veterans and military families.

Harris supporters in Fayetteville recognize that the city is an important, strategic campaign stop for Democrats as they're working to engage with the military community.

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One Harris supporter, Debbie Melvin, told ABC11 that she was voting for Harris because of her plans to offer more support to soldiers and veterans.

"I love every one of them soldiers out there because they are continuing to fight for our country and they deserve the utmost respect and she's the person to do it," Melvin said.

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The chair of Cumberland County's Democratic Party chapter, Derrick Montgomery, said he thinks the party has been making real gains in winning over voters in the military community.

"We are leaving no stone uncovered. We have rallied wives of veterans, families, wives of soldiers, husbands of soldiers, having meetings, having phone banks, galvanizing that population," Montgomery said. "Under the current, we've we've been doing a lot of work with them. And so we've found and discovered that it's really not as severe conservative as we project that it was going to be."

The Cumberland County Board of Elections said about 15,000 voters have already come out for early voting since Thursday. Friday's Fayetteville stop is coming off of Clinton and Walz's rally in Durham the night before. Clinton and Walz are also engaging with voters in Wilmington and will go on to stop in Greenville, Rocky Mount and Raleigh throughout the weekend.

Melvin said she hopes male voters won't hesitate to vote for Harris to become president because she's a woman.

"She's a strong lady, and I don't think any man should be fearful of a female because they can do the job," Melvin said. "We have to prove ourselves more than anybody, a female does."

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story said Clinton and Walz appeared in Fayetteville. Only Clinton was at the Fayetteville event.