The Democratic National Committee chairman late Thursday afternoon told a gathering at the Nash County Democratic Party office at Station Square downtown that he wants them to understand and know they are powerful in North Carolina.
“You are now a battleground state,” Jaime Harrison told the attendees. “And as a battleground state, the eyes of not only the nation, but the eyes of the world are on what you do here in North Carolina.”
Harrison also told the attendees, “Your governor’s race is probably going to be the top governor’s race in this country.”
Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat and a Nash County native, is prohibited by state law from seeking election to a third consecutive four-year term. He has endorsed N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic nominee, to succeed him. Stein’s main opponent in the Nov. 5 general election is Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is the Republican nominee. A Libertarian candidate is also on the ballot in the governor’s race.
Harrison took the opportunity at the Rocky Mount campaign office to draw a distinction between the top two candidates for governor.
Harrison emphasized to the audience that he believes the question is whether North Carolinians will choose a man who will serve “with dignity and honor” or “a bigot” who will divide the state.
“That’s the choice that you all have,” Harrison said.
Harrison also emphasized to the attendees Thursday that they have the power via the ballot box to break up what currently is a veto proof majority in the GOP-controlled N.C. General Assembly.
“And of course, you have the power to determine the most powerful person on the face of this planet: The president of the United States,” Harrison said.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is completing his first four-year term in the White House. A majority of Americans, according to polls, have expressed dissatisfaction with his job performance. Biden is expected to be facing a challenge from the presumptive GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump.
Harrison told the attendees that overall, “Elections are very simple. I know we like to make them complex and complicated, but they’re very simple.”
Harrison said the 2024 presidential election is a contest between hope and fear, progress and chaos.
“And the question is: What do we choose, my friends? Which road do we want to go down? What path do we want to go down? And we have to make that determination,” Harrison said.
Harrison also spoke of Biden cancelling billions of dollars in student loan debts.
Harrison particularly drew applause and cheers Thursday when he spoke about then-candidate Biden in 2020 vowing to nominate the first African American woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court if elected.
“They called her everything but a child of God, but right now they call her madam justice,” Harrison said of critics of Kentanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the highest court in the land.
The U.S. Senate, in a 53-47 vote in 2022, confirmed Jackson to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer as an associate justice on the high court.
Harrison is from South Carolina and formerly served U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat. In 2020, Harrison challenged U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, but lost the contest.
Harrison became the Democratic National Committee chairman in 2021.
He was in Rocky Mount on Thursday as part of a tour of the state and for the opening of a coordinated effort in Nash County in which the county Democrats and the Biden reelection campaign are sharing the same location in Rocky Mount.
Nash County Democratic Chairwoman Cassandra Conover introduced Harrison to the gathering.
Angela Bryant, a former legislator, afterward said that she believed the gathering was great and that Harrison’s remarks were inspiring.
“I think this kind of turnout, particularly across the county, is very heartening,” Bryant said.
Asked about the Biden re-election team’s chances of carrying Nash County, Bryant said, “Nash County is always close. So, I think we’ll have a chance.”
And Bryant said of the general election campaign, “I’ll be pitching in to do my part without a doubt.”
Donna Padgett, who is an online college writing tutor, afterward said that she believed the gathering was heartening.
“I don’t see how we can be stopped because we are optimistic — and optimism will defeat pessimism any day,” Padgett said.
Kevin Jones, who ran for mayor in 2019 and campaigned for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Morgan in the Democratic primary, afterward said that he is rooting for the Biden-Harris ticket and that he believes the county is going to be a competitive place.
At the same time, Jones said, “There’s nothing that we can take for granted. We have to make sure that we get out and get people to the polls — and make sure we share about the promises that have been made and kept.”
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