Gwen Walz, wife of Minnesota Gov. and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, highlighted the Harris-Walz campaign’s policies aimed at protecting abortion rights and improving conditions for middle class families in Madison at a Democratic Party Office on Sherman Avenue Wednesday.
“Everywhere I go, people are fed up with Donald Trump, but they are fired up for a new way,” Walz said.
Joined by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, Walz made her seventh stop in the state after Vice President Kamala Harris chose her husband to be her running mate in August.
Throughout the speech, Walz touched on many themes, including the campaign’s proposals to increase housing affordability.
“Kamala and Tim have spent their entire careers fighting for middle class families,” she said. “They will make it more affordable to buy a home.”
Ahead of the election, Harris has campaigned on providing more support for first-generation homeowners by offering $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time buyers.
Walz then attacked former President Donald Trump’s stance on abortion, saying that “we should have the freedom to build our families how we choose.” In Minnesota, her husband signed a bill into law protecting the right to abortion and other reproductive health care last year.
Abortion has been a critical campaign issue for Wisconsin Democrats after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending constitutionally protected abortion access nationwide. Following the decision, an 1849 Wisconsin law banning abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest went back into effect.
In 2023, abortion rights played a crucial role in electing liberal-leaning Justice Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison saw strong student turnout in recent elections, and Dane County as a whole remains crucial to the success of Democrats “up and down the ballot,” Rhodes-Conway told The Daily Cardinal in September.
In the 2023 spring election, UW-Madison campus wards containing university residence halls saw 91.3% of voters cast ballots for Protasiewicz — 10% higher than Dane County as a whole, according to voting data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
The Harris-Walz campaign hopes to continue to mobilize the vote in deep-blue Madison and Dane County.
“We have to make sure that we run up the score here in Madison and in Dane County,” Rhodes-Conway said Wednesday.
Walz further emphasized the area is a “must-win area of a must-win state,” adding that Wisconsin is “carrying the world on your shoulders.”
Both campaigns have frequented the battleground state. The visit comes just days after former President Donald Trump visited Juneau, Wisconsin. Harris visited Madison on Sept. 20, and Walz’s husband will visit the state on Monday.
Drew Wesson is a staff writer and photographer for The Daily Cardinal. He has written stories covering public safety, protests, political events and more. You can follow him on Twitter @drewwesson1.
