Kamala Harris attacks Trump over 'immoral' abortion bans at Wisconsin rally | US elections 2024

Kamala Harris campaigned in Madison, Wisconsin, the state's deep blue capital and college town that Democrats hope will produce enough voters to swing the election in the presidential candidate's favor.

“We know it will be a close race until the end,” Harris said. “We are the underdogs in this race and have hard work ahead of us.”

Wisconsin voters achieved razor-thin margins in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Donald Trump won the state in 2016 by around 22,000 votes, and in 2020 Joe Biden narrowly came close with just 20,000 more votes than Trump.

The polls in Wisconsin so far show a neck-and-neck race between Harris and Trump. Three polls conducted this week underscore just how close the race could be here: Polls from AARP, Marist and Quinnipiac University suggest the race here is virtually tied, with Harris just one point ahead of Trump each.

Along the way, Harris has emphasized her support for abortion rights, a centerpiece of her campaign and an exciting issue for young voters.

“It’s immoral,” Harris said of the numerous abortion bans enacted after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. “Let us agree that one does not have to give up one’s faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not tell them what to do.”

Harris described meeting the mother of a young woman who died of sepsis after being denied abortion care in Georgia.

“Amber Nicole Thurman,” Harris said. “I promised her mother I would tell her name every time.”

Whoever wins Wisconsin's popular vote will receive the state's full 10 electoral votes, giving the state a disproportionate say in the presidential election, and groups like Madison's large college-age population will play a crucial role in deciding the outcome. Some of those students attended Friday's rally.

“It's just so nice to see someone really happy,” said Kaitlin Olson, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. During Biden's painful debate against Trump, Olson said, “It was like, 'This is scary.'” Now that Kamala is running, I'm like, 'Okay, a little more joy.'”

“I think we're going to do better than expected,” said Jake Leismer, a freshman who rode the bus from campus and joined Olson and a group of students at the rally.

The Democratic-coordinated campaign, which supports Democrats in all elections, has hired seven full-time campus organizers across the state and a youth coordinator, according to a source familiar with the Harris campaign's staffing operations in Wisconsin. Kelly Conner, a Madison-based campus organizer, said the campaign was met with enthusiasm — even hosting a bonfire to ceremoniously burn copies of Wisconsin's electoral maps, which the state abandoned this year after years of progressive and Democratic party organizing.

“We have a lot of volunteers who have never volunteered before and they want to go out and knock on doors,” Conner said.

The youth effect in Wisconsin was on full display in 2023, when college students turned out in droves to elect Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, creating a liberal majority on the bench. At the heart of the race was abortion access, which has been embroiled in a legal battle since the overturning of Roe v. Wade triggered a 175-year-old ban in the state.

“You know what’s important,” Conner said. “This election is about fascism versus democracy, and students are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that Donald Trump never sets foot in the White House again.”