Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris rocked Coastal Credit Union Music Park in a brief, yet fiery visit to Raleigh on Wednesday. 

Harris’ rally in Raleigh came less than a week before election day, and while her time in the City of Oaks was short, Harris delivered an energetic speech to droves of voters in the capital of North Carolina, a pivotal swing state.

Raleigh was Harris’ first of three stops in several battleground states on Wednesday, including later visits to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Madison, Wisconsin. 

Harris touched down at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 11:20 a.m. before traveling east for the rally. While the vice president made no additional stops in the Triangle, she embraced politicians such as Congresswoman Deborah Ross, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam and Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams. 

Once on stage, Harris stressed the importance of early voting, lowering the cost of living, women’s reproductive rights and putting aside political views in favor of unity and progress as a nation as part of what her campaign calls the “closing argument.” 

“Here is my pledge to you,” Harris said. “As your President, I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to the challenges you face. I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress.” 

While Harris closed her appearance with a pledge of progress, she started by urging voters to make it to the polls early, especially in a crucial swing state such as North Carolina. 

“We need you to vote early, North Carolina,” Harris said. “Because we have just six days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime, and we have work to do.” 

Harris said she would prioritize decreasing the cost of living if elected. Strategies she mentioned included enacting a middle-class tax cut, a federal ban on grocery store price gouging, making sure Americans have accessible and affordable housing, ensuring it is easier for the elderly to stay in their own homes and making childcare and healthcare cheaper. 

She also focused on women’s reproductive rights, stating how important the issue is to southern states like North Carolina with limited abortion access. She said a potential Trump presidency would put these rights in jeopardy. 

Other politicians preceded Harris, including Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper, who cited Harris’ ability to fight challenges that face America. 

“Ever since I’ve known her, Kamala Harris has been fighting and winning for everyday people,” Cooper said. “… She gets the job done for people who need her. And that’s good, because we have a lot of challenges facing us over the next four years. But I’ll tell you what, we have one hell of a fighter ready to take them on.” 

Harris also spoke on the importance of the election for young voters. She talked directly to those “young leaders” in the crowd — including a group of NC State students there in support of the Harris-Walz campaign — citing their long-term impact on the country. 

“You are rightly impatient for change,” Harris said. “… None of this, for you young leaders, is theoretical. It is not political for you. For our young leaders, this is your lived experience, and I see you. I see your power, and I am so proud of you.” 

Harris’ final remarks emphasized putting aside prior political affiliations and voting for politics, not parties, urging those who had voted Republican in the past to change their vote in 2024. 

“We have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump, who has been trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other,” Harris said. “We know that is who he is. But North Carolina, that is not who we are. It is time for a new chapter where we stop pointing fingers at each other and instead, let us lock arms with one another knowing that we have so much more in common with one another than what separates us.” 

Harris’ energetic speech concluded as she took to the motorcade and back to RDU to continue her campaign trail. The vice president is set to visit the Old North State one more time before election day with a rally in Charlotte.