Carolina students interested in Democratic Party politics were in luck Monday as Gov. Roy Cooper and several statewide candidates energized a get-out-the-vote pep rally for Josh Stein on campus. 

“Just a 1% or 2% increase in young people turnout will turn the tide of this election, so it is in your hands,” the governor said. He praised attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Stein as a steady, experienced leader, contrasting his record with that of his GOP opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. 

“As to this opponent, where do we even begin?” Cooper said. “How can you even describe it? Zero respect for women, a ban on abortion with no exception, spewing hatred for all kinds of people. He is so bad, and at the same time our candidate is so good, that I believe there has never been a wider gulf between candidates for public office in this state, or really in this country.”

Cooper, who will leave office in January after two terms, has been speaking as a party elder for years, but it was North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall who gave students a history lesson, telling them about a time when a woman couldn’t conduct business at a bank without her husband. 

Now, as secretary of state, Marshall oversees all business registrations in the state, among many other responsibilities. When she won the office in 1996, she was the first woman elected to a statewide executive branch office in North Carolina.

“I have to admit I love Women’s History Month,” she told students. “I especially love going to the Museum of History and [seeing] a timeline of women’s achievements on the wall. And there I am a dot on that timeline. As I look out at the sea of college students today, I see some more potential dots on that line.”

Also on hand to address the crowd were Sarah Tabor, the Democratic candidate for North Carolina commissioner of agriculture, Judge Carolyn Thompson, who is running for the state Court of Appeals, and state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, who must win the seat to which she was appointed to stay on the court. 

Stein reminded students that because of the closeness of elections in a purple state, their votes matter more than they might realize. 

“Voters in other states hunger for the power that you have here in North Carolina. To possess that kind of power is a privilege. It is also a responsibility.”

Stein discussed the importance of investing in people and education, and building an economy that works for everyone. 

“I’m running for governor because I love our home state, and I believe in its promise,” he said. “That if you work hard, where you come from should never limit how far you can go, that our kids and grandkids, that you should have a better and brighter future than we’ve had, that every North Carolinian should have a fair shot of prosperity to get a good-paying job or start a small business everywhere in this state, including small-town North Carolina.”

With Election Day drawing near, Stein has been touring the state to encourage North Carolinians to turn out to vote. On Friday, he was joined by Cooper and former President Barack Obama in Charlotte. On Saturday, Stein walked in the annual North Carolina Central University Homecoming Parade in Durham and made stops in Guilford and Mecklenburg counties to urge voters to make their way to the polls.
Robinson has stayed busy as well, appearing in Murfreesboro, Gatesville and Edenton over the weekend. This week, Robinson has appearances planned in Swansboro, Ellerbe, Taylorsville, Rocky Mount, Morganton and Elon.

For questions or comments, or to pass along story ideas, please write to Clifton Dowell at [email protected] or @StateAffairsNC on X.