"Re-energized."
That’s how Leslie Grotenhuis said she was feeling Tuesday afternoon as she waited for Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz to arrive at Salvage Station in Asheville. Walz held a rally to motivate voters to support the Harris-Walz ticket.
In a pale green rain jacket, Grotenhuis drank a beer with her friend and about 1,500 other rallygoers donning ponchos and carrying umbrellas at the River Arts District venue.
“I have been a lifelong Democrat but I just re-energized with Kamala entering the race,” she said of Vice President Kamala Harris. “I am excited that there's a new generation of leadership.”
Walz’s visit coincided with National Voter Registration Day, a date highlighted by Steven Nguyen, a freshman and first-time voter at the University of North Carolina Asheville, in his introduction to Walz.
“When I go to that voting booth, I remember that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are the only ones on the ballot to protect our rights and to push a new way forward,” he said. before introducing Walz onstage. Walz took the stage to John Mellancamp’s Small Town.
Walz touted the accomplishments of the Biden administration and set up a stark contrast between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump during a 40-minute speech.
Walz also railed against Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson who faces Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein in November. Walz condemned Robinson's comments on abortion.
“You would not find a worse candidate in Mark Robinson,” he said to boisterous applause. “He says, ‘It's not your body anymore once you're pregnant.’ Do you really want to have a federal agency run by Donald Trump and JD Vance giving Mark Robinson the authority to monitor your pregnancy?”
Walz recounted his bipartisan work in Congress on issues like transportation, veterans affairs and agriculture, all initiatives he said helped economies in rural America. He praised Harris and the bipartisan Infrastructure Act that benefitted North Carolina.
“They passed the largest infrastructure act in American history. And that's real jobs in real world,” he said
As of March of this year, $9.3 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has been announced for over 400 projects in North Carolina, according to the White House.
The federal government announced approximately $6 billion for transportation including roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports. An additional $600 million was allocated for clean water and water infrastructure. North Carolina also received $2.1 billion to connect everyone in the state to reliable high speed internet.
Walz did not mention Israel or Palestine once during the speech. About 15 minutes into the speech, security removed a group of four protestors after they held up a sign and chanted for a ceasefire in Gaza. It was unclear what the sign said, but the disturbance did not seem to faze Walz. Outside the rally, protestors held a large sign that read” US-Israel Guilty of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
Walz hammered Republican legislative leadership, referencing a move today by Republican senators to block a Democratic proposal to protect IVF, or in vitro fertilization, nationally.
“What I know is if these guys win and get their way, they made it clear today: They're not just going after abortion, but they're going after fertility treatments. They're going after contraception. They're going to create this federal agency to track you,” he said. ”Don't ever come to me and tell me you’repro-family values because that's a damn lie.”
Attendees and politicians share excitement for ticket
Rhianna Scott, a first-time voter who attended the rally, recently became a citizen after immigrating from the U.K.
“It’s really exciting to be voting for people that I align with and protect a lot of my friends and close buddies' beliefs and values and core rights,” she said.
Local elected officials including Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and State House Representative Lindsay Prather praised the Harris-Walz ticket, saying that the pair will make the lives of North Carolinians easier.
“Their plan to increase housing affordability – something we know a lot about in Asheville – by building millions of new homes and providing historical assistance for first-time home buyers will make the American dream of homeownership a reality for hard-working families across the country,” Manheimer said. “We have identified that 14,000 new housing units are needed by the year 2050. We need bold leadership to make that happen.”
Former State Supreme Court Justice and N.C. Network for Fair, Safe and Secure Elections co-chair Bob Orr said the Republican party is unrecognizable from when he was a GOP member. Orr said Trump has divided the party.
“He made it clear he doesn't care about the support of the hundreds of thousands of Republicans who, in this past year's primary, voted against him.” Orr said. “If you do not pledge total loyalty to Donald Trump, you are not welcome in the Trump party.”
