Tim Walz's final pitch for Harris to Wisconsin voters in Milwaukee

On the eve of Election Day, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz made his campaign’s final pitch to Wisconsin voters at a Monday night rally, telling his supporters that their vote will be theirs not just for the next four years, but for the next forty years. could shape.

“We’re in the last two minutes of this game,” Walz said, drawing on his past as a high school football coach and exuding confidence in the outcome. ‘It’s even. But we have the damn ball!’

Walz, the governor of Minnesota, ended his whirlwind campaign through Wisconsin at the State Fair Exposition Center with Milwaukee-born musician Eric Benét and a few hundred supporters.

The event marked the final stop of the campaign in this battleground state where the latest Marquette poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in a statistical dead heat and where the past two presidential elections in Wisconsin were won by 23,000 votes or fewer.

Here are some takeaways from Walz’s latest rally in Wisconsin:

Moore, Evers and Baldwin make the final pitch to voters

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore and Gov. Tony Evers opened the hour-long Democratic rally urging anyone who has not yet voted to cast their ballots and vote blue.

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is locked in a tight race against businessman Eric Hovde, followed. She said the path to the presidency and control of the Senate runs directly through Wisconsin.

“No pressure whatsoever!” she joked. “No pressure.”

Baldwin portrayed her challenger as an outrageous Californian, prompting boos from the crowd.

Borrowing a line from former President Barack Obama, Baldwin told the crowd, “No booing, vote!”

The all-out sprint is almost over

Walz took the stage with John Mellencamp’s “Small Town.” It was his 12th stop in Wisconsin in the last three months.

“As you probably know, there will be a small election tomorrow,” he said. “Tomorrow we have the opportunity to shape the future of future generations.”

Walz asked the men in the audience to think about the women in their lives and the stakes they face when protections against abortion are no longer guaranteed. He described the energy Harris had built around the campaign in such a short time and asked the audience to imagine what she would do in four years.

“She brought back the joy,” he said before leading the crowd to cheers of “Not! Go! Back!”

“Wisconsin, win this thing for America!” he shouted.

Former student remembers 2001 class with Walz

Among those attending the meeting was a former student of Walz’s, Kyle Palmer. He he said took Walz’s Advanced Placement Geography class at Mankato West High School in 2001as well as an English lesson taught by Gwen Walz.

“They were the type of teachers who interacted with you and they certainly indicated their own interests, but they wanted you to give them feedback, like: what were you thinking and how were you approaching the world so that they could help you understand it,” Palmer, from Chicago, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “I always found their classes entertaining. Ultimately, I obtained a master’s degree in public administration, and Tim Walz plays a major role in that.”

Palmer recalled small gestures, like Walz exchanging mixtapes with students, and big moments, like helping the class process the September 11 attacks.

Walz has “a proven history of improving the world around him,” Palmer wrote in an interview essay posted on Medium this weekend. He spent Sunday and Monday searching for his former high school teacher in South Milwaukee, and plans to continue knocking on doors on Election Day.

Republicans condemn Harris’ handling of the economy

Walz said Harris would prioritize lowering the cost of living for families and putting money back in people’s pockets.

The Trump team said Wisconsinites are already suffering from “four years of Kamalanomics.” The campaign said the former president is focused on tax relief, including the elimination of taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime.

“More lip service from Tim Walz will not fool Wisconsin voters,” Jacob Fischer, Trump’s communications director in Wisconsin, said in a statement. “In about 24 hours, Wisconsin voters will vote resoundingly for President Trump; to fix what Kamala Harris broke.”

Musician Eric Benét takes the stage after Walz

R&B singer Benetwho has been nominated four times for a Grammy Award, closed the rally with a few songs.

Benét showed his hometown pride after Trump called Milwaukee a “terrible city” this summer. The artist posted “Love me some Milwaukee. Best hometown I know!” on Instagram last June.

Backstage on Monday, Benét said he had been keeping an eye on Walz and the Minnesota governor told him he and Harris would win. That led Benét to make his own prediction.

“On November 6, maybe around 1 a.m., I think a lot of people will relate to the lyrics of this song,” he said, before launching into Johnny Nash’s “I can see clear now.”

I can see it clearly now that the rain is gone

I see all the obstacles in my way

Gone are the dark clouds that blinded me

It’s gonna be a bright (bright)

Clear (bright) sunny day

Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at [email protected] or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.