RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — The countdown is on to Tuesday’s high-stakes debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, set to take place at 9 pm in Philadelphia. The debate will air live on ABC11.

Political experts say, for VP Harris, the debate will represent perhaps her best opportunity to date to make a case to undecided voters to send her to the Oval Office — while President Donald Trump will continue his efforts to make inroads with critical voters in swing states that could decide the election.

“I think a lot of people are intrigued, excited to see just what dynamic is going to take place between her and Donald Trump during this debate,” said Steven Greene, political science professor at NC State.

Greene said he expects the Trump campaign to prepare a measured approach on debate night, while it’ll be up to Harris to calm concerns that exist for undecided voters.

“To really try and allay the fears of the American public that she is too liberal, that she’s responsible for high prices in the economy and things they don’t like,” Greene said.

On Sunday, ABC11 spoke with voters ahead of the debate — many of whom said, regardless of what happens on the stage Tuesday, they’ve made their decision already.

Harris-Trump ABC News presidential debate: How to watch, what to know

“My mind is completely made up. I like the United States of America to be a sensible country,” said Catherine Tragesser of Raleigh.

Another voter mirrored that sentiment.

“I think (debates are) very entertaining sometimes. I don’t know that they’d swing my vote. But they’re kinda like watching sports,” said Raleigh resident Jon Seelbinder.

Greene said it’s historically, debates rarely move the needle for the voting public — but after the fallout from the June showdown between former President Trump and President Biden — anything is possible.

“Am I expecting an absolute game-changer this time? No,” he said. “But I do think because of the very unique circumstances we are seeing with this debate that there is much more potential for it to make lasting changes in the dynamics of this campaign.”

ABC News reports that in the leadup to Tuesday, former President Trump is holding informal policy sessions with a team of advisors that includes GOP lawmakers, while VP Harris is holding mock debates, equipped with a stage and debate lighting.

ALSO SEE: NC to be VP Kamala Harris’ first post-presidential debate stop as part of ‘New Way Forward’ tour

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Sunday that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins his state, then “she is the next president of the United States.”

“Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan asked the governor on Sunday whether North Carolinians are open to persuasion when it comes to Harris’ race for the White House.

“There’s no question about it. It’s close here in North Carolina. It always is,” Cooper said. “This was Biden-Harris’s closest loss in 2020, only 1.3%. So the fact that Kamala Harris, as Vice President of the United States, has been to North Carolina 17 times shows that she cares about our state.”

The conquest for the Tar Heel State’s 16 electoral votes has long tantalized Democrats, which have not been won by a Democrat since former President Barack Obama in 2008.  North Carolina’s record of Democratic governors and specifically Cooper’s success in the state may be the party’s source of optimism. 

Cooper is not running for reelection, with Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein facing off against right-wing Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. A New York Times/Siena poll from August had Stein leading by 10 points, and Democrats are hoping that Robinson’s inflammatory rhetoric will help them up and down the ballot. 

In late August, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted North Carolina from “lean Republican” to a “toss up.” Jessica Taylor, the senate and governors editor for The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter told CBS News last week that the Biden campaign wanted to make North Carolina competitive, but she said that it was Harris who transformed the state to a battleground. 

“And so we’ve seen significant shifts, I think, with enthusiasm among Black voters, among younger voters, and the polls that we have seen show this very much to be a toss up contest,” Taylor said at the time. 

The Cook Political Report survey from late July/early August shows Harris leading by one point from former President Donald Trump in North Carolina, 48% to 47%/ A change from their May report, where President Biden trailed Trump by seven points, 41% to 48%.

New CBS polling also shows other three key battleground states—Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin—as tight races ahead of the first Harris-Trump debate on Tuesday with the economy proving to remain a top issue for voters. Cooper said Sunday that North Carolinians will be paying attention to the debate and Harris’ economic agenda.

“And she’s got a plan. She’s got a plan to lower costs for North Carolinians, particularly in this childcare arena, drug pricing. We’re excited about the economic plan that she has… and I think North Carolinians will respond to it,” Cooper said.

Following Tuesday’s debate, Harris will return to North Carolina on Thursday for a campaign event to kick off a battleground tour. Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff and first lady of Minnesota Gwen Walz are also set to begin a bus tour across the state this week.

Cooper said Sunday that he believes the more that North Carolinians hear Harris’ messaging, the more support she will continue to receive in the state.

“When we continue to get this information out to the American public, and to people here in North Carolina, that Kamala Harris has an economic plan that’s going to help lower the cost for everyday people, that’s going to help families thrive, that is going to protect women’s reproductive freedom. I think at the end of the day, that’s going to be what works here,” Cooper said.

And when asked if he’d be open to potentially serving as attorney general in a Harris-Walz administration, Cooper left off with a “we’ll see.” Cooper and Harris have known each other since they both served as attorneys general of their states. 

Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials expanded a beach closure this week as a precautionary measure against a “strong” scent of petroleum at an old military site, according to the National Park Service.

The beach closure is about 0.25 miles long and runs from beachfront homes at the end of Old Lighthouse Road in Buxton, North Carolina, to the old lighthouse jetties.

Officials closed this segment of the beach after several feet of sand washed away from an area in front of the Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) military site, exposing petroleum-contaminated soils and groundwater.

Officials said the petroleum comes from historic military use of the site.

They added that the erosion has also uncovered large quantities of “hazardous” remnant Navy and Coast Guard infrastructure, such as concrete, rebar, wires, PVC and metal pipes, metal fragments and cables that had been left in the ground.

The NPS has asked visitors to Cape Hatteras National Seashore to take note of signage around the beach closure and to stay outside the area.

They said the closure might change over the coming days, based on ongoing field observations.