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North Carolina loves exciting games, whether it’s basketball showdowns between the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils or presidential elections.

“Elections in North Carolina are always close, always close,” Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, told a crowd in Raleigh on Monday before introducing Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, the wife of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. But, he added, that means the state has a chance to determine who goes to the White House.

Both Donald Trump’s and Kamala Harris’ campaign teams are making serious efforts in North Carolina. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Tar Heel State as undecided.

Before President Joe Biden withdrew, Harris regularly traveled the state. When she rose to the top of the ballot, she briefly considered making the state’s term-limited governor, Roy Cooper, her running mate — before he withdrew. And two days after this week’s debate, Harris will travel to Charlotte.

One of Trump’s first visits after his indictment last June was to the North Carolina Republican convention. He also appointed the state party chairman to chair the Republican National Convention, along with his daughter, Lara Trump, a Wilmington native. And last Friday, Trump delivered a speech to the Fraternal Order of Police, the country’s largest police union, after it endorsed him in Charlotte.

North Carolina has been a difficult state for Democrats to win since Barack Obama’s victory in 2008. Mittt Romney won by just over 2 points. Trump won by 3.6 points. Biden was able to narrow Trump’s lead in 2020, but still lost the state.

But Democrats believe this could be the moment for a Cinderella story similar to North Carolina State University’s run to the Final Four this year. And they believe this is possible for a number of compelling reasons.

The first reason is structural. Between July 2021 and July 2022, nearly 100,000 people immigrated to the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. North Carolina saw an influx not only of people from blue states like California, New York, and Virginia, but also from red states like Florida and Texas. But Democrats believe this may have tipped the balance in their favor.

I met Dean Deal – a retired U.S. Air Force veteran wearing a Harris Walz shirt with a cat on it, a reference to Trump’s running mate JD Vance, who said the U.S. is run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies” – at Gwen Walz and Doug Emhoff’s event on Monday afternoon. He said he had recently moved to North Carolina.

“It was just a good place. I had family here and brought my mother here,” he said. The Independent.

Gale Touger said The Independent that Harris’ rise to the top of the electoral list appears to have re-energised young voters in her region.

“I know that a lot of people in my children’s generation wanted to sit this out, even though their parents said, ‘You can’t do that.’ But since Kamala Harris is an option, they will vote, and that’s very important,” she said.

Laura Michlik told The Independent the same: “I think there is a lot more hope this year after Biden dropped out. I think a lot of people finally want to vote again and be part of the process.”

In addition, protecting abortion rights became a major rallying cry. Last year, North Carolina lawmakers passed a ban on abortion beginning at 12 weeks of pregnancy, overriding Cooper’s veto.

“After the Supreme Court ruling and the 12 weeks, we simply do not want our rights to disappear,” Michlik said. The Independent.

Democrats must criticize Mark Robinson, the Trump-backed Republican gubernatorial candidate, for his hardline stance on abortion. Robinson has said in the past that he believes there is no justification for abortion and that abortion should never be performed, even after one day of pregnancy. Yet he recently released a campaign ad admitting that he and his wife chose to have an abortion at a young age.

All of this looks good for the Democrats – but at the same time they face many challenges. In a park directly in front of the Market Hall, some voters expressed their skepticism about Harris’ election result.

“Is she really committed to tackling these important issues that are facing us right now?” said Abdul Jabar, who lives in Raleigh, The Independent, He cited Israel’s war in Gaza, the cost of living and homelessness as three issues that are close to his heart. Although he is not completely convinced by Harris, he thinks Trump is a “clown,” he added.

“He’s a clown,” added Terry Champion, who was sitting next to Jabar.

“What happened on January 6th, yeah, no, come on, that was really childish,” Jabar added, going on to say that he thought the violence among Trump supporters that day was “really inappropriate.”

Democrats are having a hard time convincing black men like Jabar to continue voting for them, but he himself said he believes he will ultimately vote for Harris.

“I didn’t vote this year, so I’m going to vote for her,” he said. “But for me it’s just important to see the action.”

The choice is a jump ball right now and is in the fourth quarter. Expect exciting buzzer beaters, thrilling suspense and surprises as we go along.