'The power to shape the future': Roy Cooper and Josh Stein speak at Young Democrats rally

On Monday afternoon, UNC Young Democrats hosted a student rally with N.C. gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General Josh Stein and Governor Roy Cooper on Graham Memorial Hall’s Educational Foundation Terrace. 

The Chapel of the Cross, the early voting location closest to UNC’s campus, was directly visible from the rally.

Student attendee Elizabeth Ballou voted early for Stein, saying that among the political divide in North Carolina, Stein was the candidate who aligned with her views. She had never been to a political rally before Monday’s event but wanted to experience one within her community.

According to a Young Democrats’ estimation, about 300 students were in attendance for the rally.

Sloan Duvall, president of UNC Young Democrats and chair of Students for Stein  — a student group aiming to support Stein’s campaign for Governor — said the turnout at the rally was a great representation of how enthusiastic students are about North Carolina’s democratic candidates.

“You have power to determine who wins and who loses, and because the path to the White House runs right through North Carolina, you all have the power to shape the future, not only of our state, but our nation and the world,” Stein said to student attendees. 

At a press conference after the rally, Stein said that he encourages the young people of North Carolina to think about public schools, health care, reproductive rights, climate change and gun violence.

“These are all things that the governor will have a voice on,” he said. “You can either have a governor who fights for you on those issues, or one who pretends these issues are not real.”

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Agriculture Commissioner candidate Sarah Taber also made appearances at the rally, both emphasizing the importance of voting in other state races as the governor must seek the Council of State's approval for executive actions.

Marshall said that the North Carolina Republican agenda is against women, public schools and health care. 

“In contrast, our Democratic agenda is forward looking,” she added.

Both Cooper and Stein touched on the importance of addressing the destruction in western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. Stein said that if elected, assembling state resources will be his first step as governor.

He also encouraged citizens to visit DriveNC.gov and VisitNC.com to find out which N.C. towns and roads are open so that North Carolinians can continue to support the region during its peak tourism season.

“It's important that we keep the focus on Western North Carolina every single day, because the cameras will soon go away,” Cooper said. 

Young people across the state have the ability to decide who wins state-wide races and who the next president is, especially after former President Donald Trump won North Carolina by 74,483 votes in the 2020 presidential election, Duvall added.

“You could not be casting a more powerful ballot than the one you're casting in North Carolina,” Duvall said. “We want to make sure that students know that they have immense power in this election, and with that power comes responsibility, and they've got to exercise that.”

During his term, Cooper has expanded Medicaid for 600,000 North Carolinians and passed legislation requiring electric public utilities to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. He said Stein is the best candidate to continue acting on what he has done in office.

At the press conference, Stein said he hopes North Carolinians will vote based on character, rather than by party.

“One thing about being at the state level is that you're closer to people, and they can see the work that you've actually done to make a difference in their lives,” he said. “They're willing to set that 'D' or that 'R' a little bit more to the side and evaluate the person on their merits.”

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