U.S. Senate candidates Cheri Beasley and Ted Budd swing through Charlotte

State of play: Democratic candidate Cheri Beasley, the former state Supreme Court Chief Justice, launched a statewide tour on Saturday with an event at Harding University High with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Republican candidate and U.S. Rep. Ted Budd joined Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in an hour-long panel discussion on national security and foreign policy on Monday.

• “We’re having a conversation that nobody in the North Carolina Senate race is having but us,” Graham said. “Have you heard (Beasley) talk about any of this stuff? You know, this is not a problem until it is.”

Why it matters: Campaigning is ramping up with early in-person voting starting this Thursday, Oct. 20. The race for outgoing Sen. Richard Burr’s seat is one of the most competitive in the nation.

[Go deeper: Axios voter guide for the November 2022 elections in Mecklenburg County]

What they’re saying: During her event, Beasley went after Budd’s track record in Congress and said he did little for issues like access to healthcare. Booker urged voters to hit the polls by recounting his experience in the Capitol on Jan. 6.

• “What is this election about? It is not right or left. It is right or wrong,” Booker said to the crowd. “Not Democrat or Republican. It’s democracy or totalitarianism.”

Meanwhile, Graham said Budd was the most prepared to deal with overseas threats.

The intrigue: Asked by a reporter about abortion after the event, Budd called Beasley “extreme” for her support of abortion rights. Beasley cast the same label upon Budd for his anti-abortion rights stances days earlier.

Between the lines: Democrats’ significantly smaller spending on Beasley’s campaign compared to other purple states, like Georgia, signaled it’s a low priority they may come to regret.

• “They don’t send folks like Senator Cory Booker to North Carolina unless they know we can really win this race,” Beasley said on stage.
• Booker told Axios this battleground is personal to him. His father is from Hendersonville.
• “The consequential nature of this election is so profound, and North Carolina has a chance to put one of the most extraordinary people, period, that I’ve met in my political life into the United States Senate,” he said.

Of note: Beasley is still outraising Budd, reporting $13.3 million in third-quarter fundraising compared to Budd’s $4.7 million.

Days after Beasley’s event, the moderator at Budd’s panel, Morgan Ortagus, said they were not having a “rally” but instead an “intense” discussion. The group addressed issues “around the world,” from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to fentanyl at the southern border.

• “I’m looking forward to having a Senate where we can be more aggressive,” Graham told reporters after the event. “Nobody is more prepared on these issues than Ted. Nobody understands what we should be doing on day one … better than Ted.”
• Graham added Republicans’ first move when they “take back” the House and Senate will be to secure the border, followed by conducting an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, then replacing President Joe Biden’s budget with one that strengthens the U.S. Navy and the Department of Homeland Security.

Zoom out: Earlier in the day, Budd also visited Charlotte Pipe, run by the conservative Dowd family. Budd’s worried about China stealing from the U.S. economy because, he says, manufacturers there are spray painting the company’s logo onto knockoff pipes.

• “$600 billion a year of intellectual property theft,” he says. “That’s from all of us as taxpayers.”