Obama, Walz rally early Wisconsin voters in Madison

On the first day of in-person early voting in Wisconsin, former President Barack Obama joined Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz in Madison to encourage supporters to turn in their ballots.

The two addressed thousands at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, where Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally last month, and highlighted the final sprint of the election cycle.

“When the stakes are the highest, winners are the ones who step up, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” said Walz.

Madison, and surrounding Dane County, are Democratic strongholds the Harris campaign will need to turn out big to clinch battleground Wisconsin, where the last two presidential races were decided by less than a percentage point.

Obama has regularly visited Wisconsin to campaign for fellow Democrats since leaving office. The former president performed especially well here in his own elections, winning in the 2008 race by about 14 points and in the 2012 election by about 7 points.

Obama told the crowd that he had already cast his ballot, and told the crowd to go out and do the same.

“Tim will be an outstanding vice president, but he’s only gonna be an outstanding vice president if you vote,” he said. “We know this election is going to be tight.”

While Democrats have embraced early voting for years, former President Donald Trump previously claimed without evidence that absentee voting was a tool for voter fraud in 2020. But this year, turning out the absentee vote has been key to both parties’ campaign strategies.

At a Dodge County event earlier this month, Trump himself encouraged voters to mail in their absentee ballots “as soon as you can.” And earlier this week, his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, visited Waukesha to get out the early vote.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Wisconsin Republicans highlighted their party’s push to take advantage of early voting.

U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Clyman, said he’s been traveling the state with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde and is seeing evidence of GOP voters “banking the vote,” which he said can guard voters from election day surprises, “whether it’s the weather or some emergency.” 

“It’s kind of amazing to already see this afternoon, a number of people showing up at these events, and they already had their little sticker that says ‘I voted,’” said Fitzgerald. “That’s a good thing. That’s certainly, I think, what we’ve been trying to emphasize, which I’ll be quite honest, is kind of a shift from where we had been in the past.”

The process of early voting differs by location in Wisconsin, and voters still have time to register and cast their ballots in the two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 5.

As of Monday, more than 17 million Americans had already submitted early ballots, according to a tally by the New York Times.

As of Tuesday morning, a running count maintained by the Wisconsin Elections Commission showed that about 360,000 absentee ballots had already been returned in Wisconsin. By Tuesday afternoon, the WEC said higher than expected turnout for the first day of in-person absentee voting had caused the state’s WisVote system to slow down.

WEC Chair Ann Jacobs said on the social media platform X that the agency had arranged for more server space to prevent future delays.

“We apologize for underestimating the incredible enthusiasm you all have for voting,” wrote Jacobs, a Democratic appointee. “This is unheard of turnout for the first day of in-person absentee voting!!”

Obama highlights stakes of the election, questions Trump’s behavior

Speaking to the Madison crowd, Obama and Walz argued this will be the most consequential election of voters’ lives, arguing that Harris and a Democratic Congress are key for protecting abortion access, programs like Medicare and unions.

They also criticized Trump extensively, warning his second term would be dangerous for democracy.

Obama poked fun at some of Trump’s recent behavior on the campaign trail, but argued the stakes are still serious.

“You’d be worried if grandpa was acting like this,” he said. “But this is coming from someone who wants unchecked power.”

Before the main speakers, Bradley Whitford, a star of the politics-themed TV show The West Wing, addressed the crowd. Whitford, who was born in Madison, spoke passionately about the “unique, incredible power that you have … in this state, in this county.”

“I got news for you: If we spend the next two weeks knocking doors, manning phones, doing everything we can to get out every vote — with your help, we’re gonna win,” he said. “We’re gonna hold this country up … to its spectacular, unfulfilled aspirations in Wisconsin.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin also spoke about the stakes of her own reelection campaign. The two-term incumbent is locked in what appears to be a tight race with Hovde, whom her campaign has criticized as a wealthy outsider.

“It’s clear that he spent more time on his private California beach than on a factory floor or a family farm here in the state of Wisconsin,” Baldwin said. “So we need to defeat him … not only to continue to deliver for working families across the state, but because Wisconsinites deserve a senator who understands them, not one who insults them.”

Baldwin’s seat is seen as must-win if Democrats are to hold onto their slim majority in the Senate.

Attendees at the Madison event also spoke about the stakes of their own votes in a battleground state.

“I fear that if Trump gets into office, our country will not be the same,” said Matthew Vander Steeg, a nurse at UW Health.

Vander Steeg said he’s already cast his early ballot. He said he was excited to see Obama speak and excited to support Harris.

“I hope and pray there’s enough people who will get out and vote. Because she truly, honestly cares about the people,” Vander Steeg said.

A few dozen people in the crowd were decked out in bright orange T-shirts representing the Laborers’ International Union of North America. Samuel Arentz was one of them. He bussed from La Crosse with his chapter of the union because he said Trump is a “pretty negative guy” who doesn’t tell the truth.

He said he thinks Harris can appeal to Republican and independent voters. 

“I tell people that are independents: ‘When you go in that booth, nobody really knows who you’re voting for,’” Arentz said. “You can always come back out and tell anybody: ‘I voted for Donald Trump.’ But just vote for Kamala. I think she’ll really do it for the country.”

Walz visits Racine Tuesday night

Hours after the Madison event, Walz traveled to Racine, where he addressed the hundreds of people who had filed through Racine Memorial Hall’s neoclassical columns to see him speak. At least a hundred stood in the aisles when seats ran out.

“We had a little gathering down in Madison but I think there’s more energy here tonight,” Walz said.

Joining Walz was state Rep. Greta Neubauer, the Assembly’s Democratic minority leader who represents Racine, a city where she said people “look out for each other.”

“Donald Trump, he is not like our neighbors. He does not come over with a casserole when someone passes away,” Neubauer said. “I bet he turns off the lights and locks the doors during trick-or-treating.”

Walz discussed economic policies, including Harris’ proposals for a down payment assistance program and expanding Medicare to cover in-home elder care.

“Freedom means seniors should live in dignity in their retirement,” Walz said.

He pivoted to other issues, including preventing gun violence and supporting abortion rights, urging the men in the crowd to “think about the women in your lives.”

“If you’re wondering about voting, their lives literally depend on how we vote in this election,” Walz said.

As the Harris campaign has done all week, Walz warned of a second Trump presidency, saying that that 2016 version of the former president “is not the Donald Trump of today.” He alluded to Trump’s recent comments promising to use military force to fight “the enemy from within.”

“There is a way to make sure none of that happens,” Walz said. “It’s by beating them at the ballot box.”