With just four days left before the 2024 presidential election, The Dane County Farmers' Market — the largest farmers market in the U.S., located in one of the nation’s key swing states — was abuzz with foot traffic, music and political campaigns.
At each corner of Capitol Square, different political groups had set up tables, handing out yard signs and other campaign swag.
“Badgers for Harris-Walz” stickers were handed out by campaign volunteers and seen on shoppers’ shirts across the market. Aside from promoting the campaign, a volunteer with the Harris-Walz campaign said she aimed to encourage people to vote.
“The point of today's event is just to get out the vote,” she said. “We have Trump's supporters walk by and say, ‘yeah, we voted, but you're not gonna like who we voted for,’ or something like that. We're like, ‘okay, you know, great. Thanks for using your voice.’”
The Forward! Marching Band, a group that uses music to champion social causes, played music just across the street from the market. With cardboard ballots and a cardboard ballot box, they urged people in the crowd to “practice voting” before Tuesday’s election and emphasized the necessity of voting.
Mark Quinn, a volunteer with the Democratic Party of Dane County, said the farmers market is the perfect place to reach voters from all demographics.
“There's a good number of people that go into the market, and you get a very good cross section of people, not just one particular segment of society. That's very important to us,” Quinn said. “It is going to be a very, very close election, and every vote counts, so this is part of the best place in the county to contact voters.”
Sarah Olsen, a volunteer with the Trump-Vance campaign, and wife of Eric Olsen, the Republican congressional candidate challenging U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan in Wisconsin’s 2nd District, echoed Quinn’s sentiment.
“I think this is a great place to reach potential voters, because we've had an incredibly positive reception,” Olsen said. “Even for people who get into a little bit of a disagreement or a debate, it's generally been very positive, and they like hearing another perspective.”
Quinn and Dane Dems are working to make sure voters all across the county come out to vote by Election Day, he said.
“We want to make sure that we don't stay home,” Quinn said. “The most important thing is to remember that the alternative to not voting is too tragic to consider.”
Annika Bereny is a Senior Staff Writer and the former Special Pages Editor for The Daily Cardinal. She is a History and Journalism major and has written in-depth campus news, specializing in protest policy, free speech and historical analysis. She has also written for state and city news. Follow her on Twitter at @annikabereny.
