By Dan Shafer
Walz was joined by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Gov. Tony Evers and Congresswoman Gwen Moore at a rally at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis in Milwaukee County.
Less than two miles away from where Kamala Harris held her first rally as the presumptive Democratic nominee, at West Allis Central High School in late July, Tim Walz hosted a campaign rally on the eve of the election, firing up supporters at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
“Wisconsin, here’s my ask of you: Win this thing for America,” said Walz in his closing remarks.
The Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate commented on the tight timeline of the campaign, noting that it was just 107 days ago that Kamala Harris became the candidate.
“Look at the movement that Kamala has built in that short amount of time,” he said. “Now, imagine what she’ll do in four years.”
Walz spoke for about 10 minutes, touching on many of the top themes from throughout the campaign, issues like reproductive health care, lowering costs for families, gun violence prevention, protecting Social Security, strengthening the middle class.
He also talked about the moment this campaign is in, on the eve of Election Day, and what’s on the line, and about looking back at this time from 40 years in the future. He talked about a moment where your grandkids might ask you about the 2024 election.
“Someday,” he said, “you’re going to be sitting in that rocking chair in the fort, and little one’s…going to ask about this election in the United States, and they’re going to wonder: What did you do in that election, when you protected the American experiment, when the rule of law held, when the constitution was the law of the land, when dictators and division and darkness were thrown out, and unity and hope and a new way forward would reign? When everything was on the line and that little one asked you, “What did you do during that election”, you’re going to answer: Every damn thing I could.”
Walz was joined by Sen. Tammy Balwdin, Gov. Tony Evers, and Congresswoman Gwen Moore for the event.
Moore spoke first, recalling the story of Wauwatosa Alderman Sean Lowe, who won his election by a single vote. Evers spoke next, emphasizing that it’s not just the top of the ticket that’s on the ballot, but state legislative races happening under the new maps he signed into law earlier this year.
Baldwin spoke last before Walz, and she’s been campaigning with him throughout the day before arriving in Milwaukee County for the rally.
“The stakes of this race could not be higher,” she said, criticizing her opponent, Republican challenger Eric Hovde, for his views on reproductive rights, his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, and more, striking a contrast with some of the work she’s done in elected office.
“I’ve been leading the way to restore Roe v Wade with the Women’s Health Protection Act,” she said, adding that she also wrote the provision in the Affordable Care Act that allows young people to stay on their parents’ health care until they are 26 years old.
In her closing remarks, she said “We have a chance to embrace our state motto — Forward.”
The crowd responded with cheers that have become a hallmark of the Harris-Walz campaign and the Democratic message in the 2024 election, a chant that began at that gymnasium in West Allis, in Harris’ first speech as nominee.
“We’re not going back!”
