The Badger Herald photography team attended Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally on Oct. 30. We interviewed and photographed various attendees, performers and Harris herself. Amidst the crowds, we found voices of hope and joy, highlighted by a palpable atmosphere of passion and unity.
We spoke with Teresa (left) and Vanny (right), who traveled from Chicago and Mississippi respectively. United by the Service Employees International Union, Teresa and Vanny joined dozens of their fellow union members to campaign in Wisconsin daily until Election Day.
Teresa, a DACA recipient, cannot vote. She explained that although unable to do so herself, Latinos like herself need to get out and vote and emphasized that they need to make their voices heard.
Vanny made the long commute from Mississippi to Wisconsin because as a swing state, it is important for Wisconsinites to vote.
Skylar Gothelf (right) and Elia Saltzman (center) are University of Wisconsin juniors. Gothelf is worried about women’s reproductive rights and what a second Trump term could mean for women throughout the U.S. She’s an advocate for common sense gun reforms and is joined by Elia in believing in the importance of exercising one’s right to vote to promote change in both local and national communities.
Hundreds of other UW students attended the rally.
(Bennett Waara)
American singer and songwriter Remi Wolf, known for her eclectic, genre-bending music opened the event. She was followed by The National, an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. Both performers initiated and ended their sets by imploring everyone to go vote, statements received with thunderous shouts of approval by the crowd.
The crowd’s excitement grew with every act, exploding with energy when Gracie Abrams came onstage. Abrams’ performance of “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” “Risk” and “Free Now” electrified the audience, filling the arena with a chorus of happiness as people sang along. She wrapped up her set with a heartfelt echo of the rallying cry to vote, reinforcing the importance shared by every speaker. Her performance preceded the entrance of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., currently running against U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde.
Baldwin began her speech by emphasizing the differences between her and her opponent by repeating the now common catchphrase “We have a Green County, a Brown County, but not an Orange County,” to her point of Eric Hovde having done more work in California than in Wisconsin. Her speech ended with a statement of support for the Harris-Waltz campaign and encouraging people to vote.
Baldwin was followed by the main performers of the event, Mumford & Sons. The crowd once again united in a deafening round of applause and cheers as they entered, and for the duration of their performance, the audience stood and sang along gleefully.
Mumford & Sons paved the way for Harris’ anticipated appearance. Beyonce’s “Freedom” roared through the loudspeakers as the vice president entered the stage. Punctuated by deafening exclamations from the audience, Harris addressed the people.
