ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz returned to Asheville on Wednesday to make a final pitch to voters six days before the election on Nov. 5, or, as he put it, “150 hours before the election.”

Sharing the Orange Peel stage with Walz was American Aquarium, an alternative country band from Raliegh whose lyrics meshed well with the Harris-Walz campaign’s messaging.

Rallygoers began trickling into the Orange Peel around 5:15 p.m., a venue holding up to 1,050 attendees.

At 6 p.m., Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer took the stage to kick off the Walz campaign stop, praising the Democratic Party presidential ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz as a “power team.”

“I feel like I have a personal relationship with everyone in Asheville after the last month,” Manheimer began, using the stage to highlight Hurricane Helene relief efforts. “Our recovery is going to take years … but all of you are still here, which shows how important this election is.”

“We better have Harris and Walz in the White House to make sure we recover,” the Asheville mayor told attendees.

In her words, former President Donald Trump “… politicized the disaster … [He is] not the leader we need for our country.”

Manheimer concluded her remarks, stating, “Those people who sit on the couch is a vote against women’s rights,” she warned the audience. “I am certain worse can happen” if the former Republican president is reelected.

Avery Schwab, a Regional Campus Organizer for the NC Democratic Party, spoke briefly, giving instructions on how to vote.

The six members of American Aquarium began their six-song set around 6:10 p.m. In order, the songs played were: The World is on Fire, Tough Folks, Babies Having Babies, A Better South, Southern Roots and The Luckier You Get.

Band leader B.J. Barham was evidently present for reasons other than the paycheck, made apparent from his statements between songs. “I haven’t felt like there’s been an election more important than this since 2008,” Barham exclaimed.

Walz’s second Asheville campaign stop comes after a rally at Salvage Station on Sept. 17. Danny McClinton, owner of Salvage Station, which washed away in the flooding during Hurricane Helene, took the stage before Walz.

“Hello survivors,” McClinton began. “Hello, beautiful neighbors. For 10 years we have competed with the Orange Peel,” he joked while standing on the Peel’s stage.

He promised Salvage Station would find a new home and reopen.

McClinton warned that voters should be proactive, lest they cause “our country [to slip] into a form of governance more dangerous than Helene.”

Walz walked onto the Orange Peel stage around 7:30 p.m.

“Well, hello Asheville, again,” the Minnesota governor opened. “In the wake of the devastation of Helene … the community [here] stuck together and stuck around.”

“I want to thank Mayor Manheimer for her leadership under pressure,” the vice-presidential hopeful relayed, also shouting out non-profit BeLoved Asheville.

Urging Americans to spend their vacation dollars on the disaster-afflicted city, Walz exclaimed, “If you have never visited this American treasure in Asheville, book your ticket now.” He praised Ashevilleans as “Tough, tenacious and never going down without a fight.”

Like much of the rest of the Harris-Walz campaign, Walz’s final pitch to Asheville voters was less about their policies, and more about making voters feel uncomfortable with voting for Trump.

“Donald Trump has been teaching fear for the last 10 years to divide us,” Walz said.

The governor asserted that the Trump-Vance ticket plans to cut Social Security and abuse tariffs, an economic tool Trump has earmarked as a core tenet for his second term in office. Tariffs were dismissed by Walz as “Donald’s magical math.”

“What in the h**l does the richest man in the world know about hardship,” Walz said, attacking Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth and a noteworthy Trump ally. “Not a d**n thing!”

“In this country, we used to have two functional parties,” Walz related. “I’ll be d**ned if I let them lay claim to that flag.”

Unlike his last stop in Asheville, Walz made multiple policy proposals to voters, mostly on the economy and Medicare.

“One hundred million Americans,” Walz promised, “will receive a tax cut.”

Walz decried “Speculators buying [houses] and jacking up the prices.”

The Harris-Walz plan to fix this, as articulated by Walz, is to offer Americans a $25,000 tax credit for buying a home. Tax credits would also be offered to small businesses in their first year of operation, he asserted.

“Expanding Medicare to pay for in-home care” was another Walz promise, also insinuating dental and optometry medicine would be covered. He insisted insulin must be capped at $35 per month for all Americans.

Stoking fears over states banning abortions, Walz said women’s “lives are at stake.” “So, when we win this election, hold the Senate and take back the House,” Walz continued, “President Harris will sign [national abortion protections] into law.”

Walz made certain that rallygoers knew that staying at home on Election Day was not an option, saying if you’re not really into politics, “Too d**n bad, politics is into you.”

The vice president hopeful concluded his speech with a call and response with his supporters. “When we fight,” Walz started, “We win,” replied the crowd. “When we vote,” he continued, “We win,” they responded.

Walz finished his speech around 8 p.m. by yelling, “Let’s go, North Carolina!”

The governor shook hands with people in the stands behind him before descending from the stage to greet the audience for about 10 minutes.

Harris campaign merchandise seller Brittney Jones stood outside at a table covered in “Harris-Walz” adorned T-shirts. Her table saw little attention before the rally began, because, as she put it, “nobody likes to hold their shirts” for a long rally. Jones sold hats at the Salvage Station rally last month, too, claiming she donated 20 percent of her merchandise sales to the Harris-Walz campaign.

Olin Ball, a bartender working the rally relayed, “I’ve worked here a very long time.” The 16-year veteran of the Orange Peel said, “This is definitely a first.”

“Hopefully, North Carolina turns blue again,” stated rally attendee John Lieberman. “I saw this [event] pop up. [It’s a] cool opportunity to see Governor Walz.” Lieberman hoped “…to see more of their plan… for the next 30 years and beyond.”

Signs and shirts with slogans were everywhere at the rally. Some signs read “North Carolina Votes Early,” “Coach” and “A New Way Forward.” Shirts read “Support Democracy and Decency Not Revenge and Retribution,” “We Did It Joe” and the ever-present “Harris Walz.” There was a man wearing a brown leather vest with a “Harris Walz ’24” bumper sticker slapped on the back.

Other attendees wore campaign attire for local and state candidates like Josh Stein, Caleb Rudow and Lindsay Prather, none of whom made appearances at the Orange Peel that evening.

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