Kamala Harris makes 1st campaign stop as presidential candidate in Milwaukee; 3K attend rally

MILWAUKEE -- Vice President Kamala Harris hit the campaign trail Tuesday for a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.

Monday night, ABC News reported she secured enough support from delegates win the nomination at the Chicago convention in August.

This campaign event was planned last week prior to the announcement by President Joe Biden on Sunday that he was getting out of the race for president. So instead of this being a rally to support Biden, this is a rally to kick off Kamala Harris's campaign for president.

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This is the fifth time that Harris has visited Wisconsin this year, a clear indication of how important this battleground state will be in November. The vice president told a packed house she's ready to take on Donald Trump and win the election.

"The path to the White House goes through Wisconsin. Yes, it does. And to win in Wisconsin, we are counting on you right here in Milwaukee," she told the crowd/.

The campaign kicked off in the West Allis High school gymnasium Tuesday morning with supporters arriving hours early.

"I worked on the campaign with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris back in 2020," Michael Smith of Chicago said. "So, this is bringing back the band together again, and getting back out to do the work in the field."

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"You know, I adore Joe," Aiko Schatz of Appleton said. "I love Joe, for 30 years. I am, I was, I cried when he said that he was stepping away. I think it would have been fine. It would have been great. But she, if he's passing the torch, passing it to her is the best thing he ever did."

Campaign organizers said so many people RSVP'd for the event that late Monday afternoon they had to switch the location to a larger auditorium to accommodate an estimated 3,000 people, the largest rally so far for the campaign.

Anna PIscioner, who traveled from Madison, Wisconsin, for the rally, said she will be voting for the first time this year.

"And I think it's very exciting for me as a young voter to see like a potential first woman president, which I'm very excited about. I love Kamala Harris and I love everything she stands for," she said.

Harris told the crowd she wants to run a people-powered campaign, which translates into a people-powered presidency. She said Republicans want to take the country backward, but Democrats have a vision for the future. But winning in November, Harris said, will take hard work.

"And in the next 105 days, then we have work to do. We have doors to knock on. We have phone calls to make. We have voters to register. And we have an election to win!" she said.

Tuesday morning on MSNBC, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said he has not received any vetting material indicating he's been considered as a potential running mate.

"Look, I love being the governor of the state of Illinois," Governor Pritzker said. "I've been out on the campaign trail fighting hard for Democrats to win. I was in Indiana and Ohio last week. I'm going to be in Tennessee and Arizona. I, as you know, started an organization called Think Big America that's fighting for reproductive rights. We did it in Ohio. We're doing it in Arizona, in Nevada. You know, it's important to me that we win across the across the board all across United States, so I'm going to continue to do that. And I'm very interested in making sure that Kamala Harris becomes the next president of the United States."