Kamala Harris rally in Wisconsin, highlights from campaign event at Madison's Alliant Energy Center: Recap
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Vice President Kamala Harris held a campaign rally in Madison Friday night, part of her presidential campaign against former president Donald Trump.
Harris, who was in Georgia earlier in the day for a rally, spoke for about 30 minutes to a sold-out Alliant Energy Center, addressing a range of issues, including abortion rights, home ownership and health care while drawing a sharp contrast between herself and Trump.
This is Harris' first visit to Madison and fourth overall to Wisconsin since launching her presidential campaign. Harris' last Wisconsin rally was at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum on Aug. 20, appearing along with running mate Tim Walz during the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provided live coverage of the event below.
Watch Kamala Harris speech during rally in Madison, Wisconsin
Takeaways: Kamala Harris' rally in the Wisconsin liberal stronghold Madison
Kamala Harris leaves Wisconsin after Madison rally
Vice President Kamala Harris' motorcade arrived back at Dane County Regional Airport shortly after 7 p.m.
Harris stopped to pose for photographs on the tarmac with a photo line of about a dozen people before boarding Air Force 2 at 7:10 p.m., according to a pool report.
— Mary Spicuzza
Kamala Harris urges supporters at rally in Wisconsin to use their voices and votes
Vice President Kamala Harris urged the crowd of more than 10,000 people gathered at the Alliant Energy Center Friday night to use their voices, and votes, to preserve their freedom and reproductive rights – and send her to the White House.
“Your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power, and never let anyone take your power from you,” Harris told the crowd. “So Madison, today, I ask you, are you ready to make your voices heard?”
In her approximately 30-minute speech, she focused on topics ranging from abortion rights to home ownership to opportunities for middle class Americans.
— Mary Spicuzza and Jessie Opoien
Kamala Harris criticizes Donald Trump, who she says has 'no plan' for healthcare
Harris said it's time to "turn the page" from Donald Trump.
“Some of you might have seen the debate last week that I had with Donald Trump,” Harris said to cheers.
“I talked about issues that matter to families across America, like bringing down the cost of living, investing in America's small businesses protecting reproductive freedom and keeping our nation safe and secure,” Harris said. “But that is not what we heard from Donald Trump. Instead, it was the same old tired show. The same old tired playbook we've heard for years, with no plan on how he would address the needs of the American people. Well, folks, it's time to turn the page.”
She added, “We are ready for a new generation of leadership that is optimistic about what we can do together, because we're tired of all that division and hate they're pushing. We here know the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.”
She also criticized Trump over his efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare.”
Harris said Trump “has no plan.”
“In fact, he has quote ‘concepts of a plan,’ no actual plan, ‘concepts.’ So aside from that being laughable, it's very serious, because he's basically saying he would threaten the health insurance of 45 million people in our country based on a concept and take us back,” Harris told the crowd. “Remember those days when insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions? Remember what that was like? Well, Brother, we are not going back.”
— Mary Spicuzza and Jessie Opoien
Kamala Harris rally begins in Madison
Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage in Madison shortly after 6 p.m., noting that her sister Maya Harris is in the crowd. She came out to Beyonce's "Freedom," her trademark campaign song.
Maya Harris spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month.
Kamala Harris added that she lived in Madison as a young child, and that every time she arrives in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers tells her, “Welcome home.”
Harris' mom and dad were professors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a time and Harris spent her early childhood in Wisconsin's capital city.
— Mary Spicuzza
Pro-Palestinian protesters removed from Kamala Harris rally
About a half dozen pro-Palestinian protesters were removed from the Kamala Harris rally.
It was too loud inside the Alliant Energy Center to hear what they were saying, but they appeared to be chanting “we charge you with genocide” as they were removed from the venue.
— Jessie Opoien and Mary Spicuzza
Milwaukee Teamsters president introduces Kamala Harris at rally
Bill Carroll, president of the local Teamsters in Wisconsin, introduced Harris in Madison.
Teamsters Joint Council 39 based in Milwaukee, broke from the national organization and endorsed Harris for president and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for vice president.
The local union made the announcement Wednesday, as Carrol said Harris has been part of "the most pro-union administration ever."
“As vice president of the most pro-union administration ever, Kamala Harris worked with the Teamsters and other union workers to pass the historic Butch Lewis Act, which has saved the pensions of over a million retirees to date," Carroll said.
— Mary Spicuzza
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers at Kamala Harris rally: ‘Hard pass’ on Sen. Ron Johnson running education in Wisconsin
Gov. Tony Evers made it clear how he feels about former President Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate the federal Department of Education and send oversight back to the states.
During a rally in Mosinee on Sept. 7, Trump suggested that “Senator Ron Johnson can run it” here in Wisconsin.
Evers, a Democratic governor who previously served as Wisconsin’s superintendent of public instruction, rejected that plan during Friday’s rally in Madison when he took the stage.
“And get this, I even saw Donald Trump a few weeks ago suggest that we should abolish Department of Education So Ron Johnson can run our schools in Wisconsin,” he said. “Holy mackerel, folks, as the kids say, hard pass.”
— Mary Spicuzza
UW-Madison students discuss excitement and importance of voting in Wisconsin at the Kamala Harris rally
University of Wisconsin-Madison students whose hometowns were outside Wisconsin said they had changed their residencies to reflect their new addresses so they could vote in this swing state come November.
Students who had not grown up in swing states said they felt their votes carried more power here.
Students Sarah Warren, 18, of Oklahoma City came to the Kamala Harris rally with her friends Julia Leonard and Eleanor Wolski, both 18 and from Chicago. They all said they’d be voting in Wisconsin and expressed excitement to cast their first votes.
They said there was a lot of political action taking place on campus, and they wanted to take part in an election they said feels very consequential.
“Being from Chicago, which is just so blue, and then coming here, it feels like our voices matter a little bit more,” Leonard said.
Riding on the election, they said, were important issues like women’s reproductive rights. And they expressed excitement at seeing a woman at the top of the ticket.
While their group drove to the rally, they and other students who were walking in said there were shuttles from the UW-Madison campus to the event site.
UW-Madison freshmen Anika Ramanathan and Aadya Ganjigunta, both 18 and from California, also expressed excitement to cast their ballots in Wisconsin.
They and others also expressed excitement at seeing a change at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Ramanathan and Ganjigunta said they felt their community was represented by seeing another South Asian woman running for president.
More women and young people are feeling motivated to vote by Harris’ ascension, Ramanathan said.
— Alison Dirr
Kamala Harris rally at Alliant Energy Center in Wisconsin reaches capacity
The Madison rally for Vice President Kamala Harris reached the venue’s capacity with more than 10,500 attendees shortly before 6 p.m., a campaign official said.
Harris is expected to take the stage at the Alliance Energy Center by about 6:30 p.m.
— Mary Spicuzza and Jessie Opoien
'Jump Around' played at Kamala Harris rally in Madison
There's plenty of music to get the crowd inside the Alliant Energy Center pumped up for the vice president's visit. Songs from Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift, both of whom have endorsed Harris, have played from the speakers.
But the song that had everyone jamming was one that is synonomous in these parts.
It's House of Pain's 1992 hit song "Jump Around."
"Jump Around," of course, is played before the start of the fourth quarter at every Wisconsin Badgers home game at Camp Randall Stadium down the road.
It's been a Camp Randall Stadium tradition since 1998.
— Jessie Opoien and Chris Kuhagen
Kamala Harris arrives at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, heads to Alliant Energy Center for rally
Harris arrived at the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison at about 5 p.m., where she was greeted Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin first lady Kathy Evers, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Attorney General Josh Kaul and Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski.
Her motorcade promptly headed toward the Alliant Energy Center for Friday night's rally.
— Mary Spicuzza
Wisconsin crowd nearing capacity at Kamala Harris’ Madison rally
By about 4:30 p.m., two hours before Harris was expected to take the stage, the crowd already was close to reaching the 10,000-person capacity at the Alliant Energy Center, with people still arriving.
Songs like “Run the World” by Beyonce and “Turn Down for What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon, who made a surprise appearance to sing it at last month’s Democratic National Convention, blasted from the speakers. And rallygoers were given light-up bracelets similar to those at Taylor Swift concerts.
Many waited for hours in traffic and then in long lines to get into the rally.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway thanked the crowd, saying, “God damn it, Madison. You know how to show up.”
— Jessie Opoien and Mary Spicuzza
Kamala Harris in Madison is ‘obvious’ choice for rally location, professor says
Amber Wichowsky, an associate professor of public affairs at UW-Madison, said the campaign’s decision to hold a rally in Madison “underscores the importance of Dane County” to the Harris-Walz ticket.
“Dane County is just a place where Democrats keep running up the margins, running up the scoreboard. And it's seen as key to counterbalance the rightward shift that we've seen in a lot of the smaller communities, more rural places of the state,” she said. “Republicans’ margins have really improved in those places. But Madison and the surrounding communities have shifted left, and there are a lot of people in Dane County."
Holding a rally in Madison also highlights the importance of enthusiasm among young voters, she added.
Now that Harris is the nominee, Wichowsky said, it “makes sense to go to a place where there are a lot of young voters to be visible, to drum up excitement and enthusiasm, and to close that enthusiasm gap among younger voters.”
Rallies and other campaign events aren’t just about building enthusiasm among voters – they’re also about inspiring people to volunteer.
“That sort of enthusiasm leads to grassroots energy,” she said.
— Mary Spicuzza
Kamala Harris rally: Supporters arriving at Alliant Energy Center
A steady trickle of supporters headed toward the Alliant Energy Center in Madison throughout Friday afternoon.
Some came straight from work, like Lisa Booker, 64, of Sun Prairie. She said she had come with her sisters and expressed excitement at the possibility of electing the first woman president.
"I'm excited to see her -- and I'm excited to see her because she's a woman that's running for the president," Booker said. "Too many people don't want no woman running the world, so I'm kind of excited for that."
Sometimes, she said, people need to see what a woman can do.
Many attendees were students at the nearby University of Wisconsin-Madison who expressed excitement at the opportunity potentially see the next U.S. president.
— Alison Dirr
How to watch Kamala Harris rally
You can stream Harris' rally online through several platforms:
The Harris campaign will livestream the event on its YouTube page.
C-Span is carrying the event live on its website.
PBS also has a YouTube livestream of the event.
Local TV channels may also carry the event live.
— Maia Pandey
Kamala Harris Oprah live stream
Harris’ rally in Madison comes a day after the vice president held a star-studded livestream event with Oprah Winfrey in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
The event titled “Unite for America 2024” modeled Winfrey’s former talk show with a live audience in a studio setting. The event also included the likes of Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Rock and Jennifer Lopez attended virtually to offer their support.
Harris also took questions from the audience during the 1.5-hour event.
Oprah endorsed Harris at the Democratic National Convention last month in Chicago.
Like Wisconsin, Michigan is a battleground state that will help decide the 2024 presidential election between Harris and Donald Trump.
Watch the event here:
— Chris Kuhagen
Kamala Harris schedule today
In addition to her rally in Madison, Harris has an event in Georgia on Friday.
She left Washington, D.C., for Marietta, Georgia, at 12:45 p.m. ET.
Harris arrived at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base at 2:20 p.m. ET. and then is set to deliver remarks focused on abortion rights at an event at approximately 3:20 p.m. ET. in Atlanta.
The vice president is scheduled to depart from Marietta, Georgia, to Madison at 4:20 p.m. ET.
Harris is expected to arrive at the Dane County Regional Airport at 5:10 p.m. CT. She’ll then speak at the rally at the Alliant Energy Center at 6:30 p.m.
She’s scheduled to leave from the Dane County Regional Airport at 7:55 p.m. CT. Harris is expected to return to the Joint Base Andrews in Washington, D.C., at 10:40 p.m. ET.
— Chris Kuhagen
Where is the Alliant Energy Center?
Alliant Energy Center is a multi-building complex on 164 acres at 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way in Madison.
The site hosts conventions, trade shows, concerts and more. The four venues on the campus are the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Exhibition Hall, New Holland Pavilions and Willow Island.
Kamala Harris’ rally on Friday night will take place inside Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which has a 10,231-person capacity.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team played at the venue when it was called the Dane County Coliseum for 30 years until 1997-98. The Veterans Memorial Coliseum is the site of the WIAA boys and girls hockey state tournaments.
Among the other events the Alliant Energy Center is hosting this fall include World Dairy Expo from Oct. 1-4, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Horsemanship Association State Show from Oct. 26-27, the WI Dog Fair on Nov. 10 and the Wisconsin Bridal and Wedding Expo on Nov. 17.
— Chris Kuhagen
Wisconsin Republicans slam Harris ahead of Friday evening rally
Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris' Friday evening rally, Wisconsin Republicans slammed the Democratic presidential nominee during a press conference miles away inside the state Capitol.
Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming framed Harris’ rally in the liberal stronghold of Madison as an effort to play to a friendly audience instead of answering questions from voters skeptical of her record.
“Kamala Harris doesn't get back to the White House unless she wins Wisconsin, and she needs a big turnout,” he said. “She has to go to her base of voters, not where independent voters live, because, frankly, she doesn't want to answer questions from independent voters. She'd rather come somewhere where it's completely safe for her politically.
Wisconsin State Treasurer John Leiber said he wanted to see Harris in her rally talk about what her economic policies would do for Wisconsinites and Madison residents in addition to “what they have been doing under the Biden administration.”
The cost of rent and food prices as two issues in Madison that he said had not been solved.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said inflation and the southern border, which he called a “disaster,” should be the top issues.
Schimming said that Republican enthusiasm has “not ebbed at all” since the Republican National Convention was held in downtown Milwaukee in July. He contended that Democrats “have to make up for lost time.”
— Alison Dirr
When is Kamala Harris speaking today?
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to arrive in Madison at the Dane County Regional Airport by 5:10 p.m. and will speak at the campaign rally around 6:30 p.m. She's expected to leave Madison around 8 p.m.
Where is Kamala Harris speaking today?
Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign rally is at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kamala Harris rally in Madison, Wisconsin: Replay
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