WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Vice President Kamala Harris hit the campaign trail for the first time as a presidential candidate Tuesday in battleground Wisconsin — a place she has now been to five times this year.
Tuesday was supposed to be a regular campaign visit before President Joe Biden withdrew from the race over the weekend. Since then, every major Democratic leader in Wisconsin has announced support for Harris.
“The path to the White House goes through Wisconsin. Yes, it does,” Harris told a crowd of more than 3,000 attendees.
Less than a week after Republicans held their nominating convention in Milwaukee, Harris was in the Badger State to offer a contrasting message as part of the campaign's largest event so far.
“Wisconsin, this campaign is about two different visions for our nation. One where we are focused on the future, the other focused on the past,” Harris added. “We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity, not just to get by, but to get ahead.”
There hasn’t been a shortage of enthusiasm among supporters so far. Team Harris hauled in $81 million in the first 24 hours, as her campaign said it offers a different choice.
“Right now, the feeling is excited and ready to move forward, you know,” Nadiyah Johnson, a delegate from Milwaukee, said. “I think sometimes, being an entrepreneur, I know that you have to make a pivot, and so we witnessed a pivot 48 hours ago, and now we’re ready to switch lanes and move forward.”
Whether elected leaders or local, delegates from the Badger State said they are ready to make Harris the nominee next month.
“I think that having her on the ticket, at the top of the ticket, is not only going to do us justice in keeping the White House, but it’s going to help bring out Democrats in voting for people up and down the ballot right here in Wisconsin and across this country, and so I think the rallying cry is that she brings some energy, she brings some youth,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who will also serve as a delegate at next month’s convention, said.
Harris will need more than 1,976 delegates to lock down the party’s nomination, which she appears to have already done.
Though the Democrat's presumptive nominee changed in a matter of 48 hours, those who attended Tuesday’s rally were excited.
“You can feel the energy, you can feel the energy. It’s just amazing, amazing,” Nancy Locante of Kenosha said.
“She had a speech last night at her new headquarters, and I listened to it, and I was reinspired,” Stacey Moe from Milwaukee added. “I mean Kamala is everything that we need to save our democracy.”
Harris has visited Wisconsin nine times since becoming vice president.