Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Oct. 4 to promote key issues that disproportionately impact young people across the nation.
Her visit follows the Biden administration’s third trip to Wisconsin in August and the first GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee, demonstrating the significance of investing in the deep-purple swing state.
Topics including gun safety, reproductive freedom, climate action and LGBTQ+ equality will be addressed, according to a press release from The White House. Harris will directly hear from students organizing on the front lines of these key issues.
“It is young leaders throughout America who know what the solutions look like and are organizing in their communities to make them a reality,” Harris said in the press release. “My message to students is clear: we are counting on you, we need you, you are everything.”
Harris’ visit to Madison is part of the “Fight For Our Freedoms College Tour.” The tour will visit historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, community colleges, apprenticeship programs and state schools.
“Her visit will not only energize our members but will also inspire college students across the state to engage in the political process and make their voices heard,” said Whitman Bottari, Communications Director of the UW-Madison College Democrats.
Wisconsin has consistently been a battleground state in presidential elections. In the 2016 presidential election, former President Donald Trump won a tense victory, painting Wisconsin red by less than 25,000 votes.
Wisconsin swung the pendulum back to blue to vote for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election by a similarly narrow margin.
Wisconsin students have voted in record numbers for Democratic candidates in elections since 2018. For example, student voters in every key UW System campus precinct with high student populations retained voter turnout better than overall voters between the 2022 midterms and the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in April, according to data from progressive voter outreach organization Project 72 WI.
And they overwhelmingly voted for liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz, who assumed her state Supreme Court seat last month and ushered in Wisconsin’s first liberal court majority in 15 years.
“We believe [Wisconsin]’s electoral outcome will be shaped by the active participation of college students,” said Bottari. “Every vote counts.”
Ella Hanley is the associate news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has written breaking, city, state and campus news. Follow her on Twitter at @ellamhanley.
