Kamala Harris Milwaukee rally during DNC was the largest of her run so far, campaign says
The 18,000 people who packed into Vice President Kamala Harris's rally in Milwaukee Tuesday night topped crowd numbers at any of her campaign rallies across the nation so far, her campaign said Wednesday.
The Democratic presidential nominee and her vice-presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held the rally at Fiserv Forum during the Democratic National Convention some 90 miles south in Chicago. Harris' remarks to the raucous Milwaukee audience were briefly streamed into the Chicago event, allowing her to speak to two packed arenas simultaneously.
“Last night’s electrifying rally in a packed Fiserv Forum is yet another example of how fired up Wisconsinites are to elect Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz––and how our historic campaign infrastructure is capitalizing on grassroots enthusiasm,” campaign spokesman Timothy White said in a statement.
DNC delegate and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said the crowd could be considered larger if DNC attendees at the United Center are also counted. Those gathered in Chicago "went crazy" when the program cut to Harris in Milwaukee, he said.
"They are speaking loudly and clearly to Wisconsin to say, 'You matter, and we need you,'" he said of Harris and Walz.
Winning Wisconsin in the fall's presidential election is considered by both parties to be key to winning the White House in the sprint to Nov. 5.
Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, the senator from Ohio, has had three events in as many weeks in the state, including one in Kenosha on Tuesday hours before the Harris-Walz event. The state's importance influenced Republicans' selection of Milwaukee as the site of this year's Republican National Convention.
Trump hasn't campaigned in the state since last month's RNC but has held three Wisconsin rallies this year. He has questioned Harris's crowd sizes and claimed without evidence they were AI-generated.
"Voters will decide this election based on who they trust to make homeownership and rent affordable again. While Milwaukee residents suffer from skyrocketing costs, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have nothing to offer but an arena's worth of empty words and hollow slogans," Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Matt Fisher said.
Harris has held boisterous rallies since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her late last month.
In late July, she held the first rally of her presidential campaign in the Milwaukee area and earlier this month spoke to a crowd in Eau Claire with Walz, then her newly minted VP pick.
The crowd at her third Wisconsin rally since launching her campaign was estimated earlier Tuesday night at more than 15,000 but organizers said the revised 18,000-person estimate Wednesday came from a review of check-in data. Free tickets were required to enter. Fiserv Forum lists its concert seating as 18,000 but has overflow capacity in the concourses and other areas.
Crowley described his experience watching the crowd at Fiserv Forum from the convention in Chicago, saying it was "extremely hard not to get emotional."
"As a kid who was, for example, inspired by a guy with a funny name like Barack Obama, I get those vibes back," said Crowley, who in 2020 became the first elected Black county executive in Milwaukee's history.
Alison Dirr can be reached at [email protected]. Mary Spicuzza can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Harris' Milwaukee rally during DNC was her largest yet, campaign says