Takeaways from Kamala Harris' rally in the Wisconsin liberal stronghold Madison

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Vice President Kamala Harris rallied more than 10,000 people Friday night in Madison — her first visit to Wisconsin's capital city and fourth to the battleground state since launching her presidential campaign.

Harris urged the crowd gathered at the Alliant Energy Center 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, Harris touched on topics ranging from abortion rights to home ownership, health care to opportunities for middle-class Americans.

Here are takeaways from Harris' Madison rally:

Madison visit highlights Dane County's increasing importance

During her speech, Harris touched on her Madison roots, noting that she and her sister, Maya — who was also at the rally — lived here as young children.

"The last time I was in Madison, we went to the house where I lived when I was 5 years old, here in Madison," Harris said. "Our parents taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and so we lived here for a period of time. So every time I land, the governor says, 'Welcome home.'"

Harris lived on Madison's west side from the ages of 3 to 5, before leaving in 1970.

There are other reasons why Harris may want to campaign in Madison. The longtime Democratic stronghold is becoming increasingly critical in elections as the population of Dane County grows, outpacing others across the state.

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 Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“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.”

The county has seen its population increase by 2.5% since the beginning of this decade. That has meant a population increase from an estimated 561,508 residents in April 2020 to over 575,300 in July 2023. Its growth is driven primarily by job opportunities in the health care and tech fields, an expert previously told the Journal Sentinel.

“It's one of the fastest growing, if not the fastest growing, place in the state,” Wichowsky said. “So for a campaign event, it seems really obvious why they're choosing Madison and Dane County.”

Music from Beyonce and Taylor Swift create a concert atmosphere

In some ways, Harris' Friday night rally felt like a concert. Songs by musicians like Beyonce, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift were blasting, attendees received light-up bracelets much like those at Swift's Eras Tour, and there was a lot of dancing in the crowd.

Events like this one highlight the importance of enthusiasm among young voters.

“Young voters are not a monolith. There is diversity. But in general, younger voters lean left. They're more likely to identify as Democrats,” Wichowsky said. “And throughout 2023, really up through the first half of 2024, younger voters were less enthusiastic about the presidential election. There was a real drop off in voter enthusiasm, particularly among younger voters.”

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.”

Health care and abortion rights are still a focus

Harris spoke at length about abortion rights and about women who have died because they couldn't receive medical care.

"We know that women have died because of Trump abortion bans," she said.

Harris talked about spending time with family members of a woman who died, noting their pain upon hearing the death was "preventable."

She also addressed their recent debate, when Trump said he had "concepts" of a health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as "Obamacare."

"As he said in the debate, he intends to replace it, but 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 said.

"Remember those days when insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions? Remember what that was like? Well, brother, we are not going back."

UW-Madison students change residency to vote in swing state Wisconsin

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 in 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 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.

UW-Madison freshmen Anika Ramanathan and Aadya Ganjigunta, both 18 and from California, also expressed excitement to cast their ballots in Wisconsin.

“Being from California, that’s already a very blue state,” Ramanathan said. “And since we’re here we wanted to engage more with the campaign and with other people that are politically active because it’s a swing state and Wisconsin is very important to this race.”

They said clubs on campus have booths to help students register to vote in Wisconsin.

Madison loves to 'Jump Around'

It's been nearly 30 years since Madison first decided to "Jump Around," and Wisconsinites now seem to have a Pavlovian response to hearing those first few notes of the House of Pain classic.

No longer just a Camp Randall tradition, it's spread to Lambeau Field and, yes, now political rallies. The Madison crowd on Friday night proved yet again that Wisconsinites love to jump around.

Wisconsin Republicans slam Harris ahead of rally, saying she's playing to friendly Madison audience

Wisconsin Republicans and the Trump campaign slammed Harris ahead of her rally.

“Wisconsinites know that Kamala and the Democrat Party are only paying lip services to top concerns for Wisconsin families," Trump campaign Wisconsin Press Secretary Jacob Fischer said in a statement.

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.”

He said that Republican enthusiasm has “not ebbed at all” since the Republican National Convention was held in downtown Milwaukee in July. Schimming expressed confidence in Republicans' on-the-ground efforts to turn out voters in November, saying the party has more than 40 campaign-related offices open in Wisconsin in addition to dozens of staffers and independent groups that are knocking on doors.

"I see the momentum every day as I travel the state," said Schimming, who contended that Democrats “have to make up for lost time.”

Claire Reid of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this story.

Mary Spicuzza can be reached at [email protected]. Alison Dirr can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Takeaways from Kamala Harris rally in Wisconsin liberal stronghold