I agree with most of what you are saying but am curious about this:
Why do you say that? Please elaborate on the points of your argument. Because it absolutely is IMO. Duke not so much. I am not a fan of their policies but if you get out of the Duke bubble and into the city and county of Durham it is very liberal. (Also great Mexican food if you get out into Durham and you know where to look.) There are plenty of places in NC that are definitely NOT really liberal but Durham very much is.
I’ll share a small anecdote about Chapel Hill while I am here. Chapel Hill is where I first saw two gay me. Holding hands and showing affection for each other walking down the sidewalk in front of the ice cream shop in the early 1979s. We were moving my older brother into college. In the town I grew up in you didn’t see that but nobody batted an eye in Chapel Hill.