Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a Biden-Harris campaign and DNC press conference on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Walz will be traveling to Durham, NC on Thursday October 17 — the first day of early in-person voting in North Carolina. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
The Harris-Walz campaign announced Sunday that Democratic vice presidential nominee, Gov. Tim Walz, will be traveling to North Carolina for the start of early voting.
Walz will hold a campaign event in Durham on Thursday, October 17 — the first day North Carolinians can cast an in-person ballot in the fall election. Those not yet registered to vote can also register and cast their ballot on the same day during early voting, which runs through Saturday November 2.
This will be Walz’s second trip to the Trangle as the Number 2 person on the Democratic ticket. The Minnesota governor visited Raleigh shortly after accepting the nomination for vice president in August, at which time he spoke to volunteers in a campaign office, got a milk shake with Gov. Roy Cooper, and attended a private fundraiser. It’s also part of a steady parade of visits from both major thickets that figures to continue for the next three-plus weeks.
Walz’s visit this week will come just four days after Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris will have visited the state. Harris flew into Raleigh Saturday evening, where she helped pack aid boxes for people impacted by recent hurricanes at a downtown restaurant. She’ll hold a rally in Greenville this afternoon.
The presence of both members of the Democratic ticket in North Carolina just days apart, together with an eastern North Carolina bus tour that will be led this week by former President Bill Clinton, signals once again that Democrats believe they can win the state’s electoral votes for the first time since 2008 if they can mobilize their base. Walz’s planned visit to heavily Democratic Durham in an effort to build excitement at the start of early voting is clearly a part of that get-out-the-vote effort.