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A march downtown Thursday aimed to capitalize on Gov. Jay Inslee’s visit as protesters demanded he take a stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Inslee’s trip to Bellingham was the first of 18 to encourage residents to vote in next week’s election. Inslee, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, and state Sen. Kevin Ranker stopped briefly at the Whatcom County Democrats’ office at  at about 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, protesters gathered on the Western Washington University campus and began marching toward the office, and planned to demand Inslee use his capacity as governor to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, said Maru Mora, who spoke on behalf of the protest organizers.