DC Wrap: Harris and Vance visit Wisconsin as delegates gather at DNC in Chicago

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Quotes of the week

Congressman Raskin is clearly referring to the violence on January 6 where Trump supporters brought a noose to the Capitol and were chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” Considering you were there on the day of the insurrection, I’m surprised this is confusing to you.
– U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, in a post on X knocking U.S. Rep Derrick Van Orden for saying U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, joked about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Raskin in a speech at the DNC said people “tried to kill” GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s “predecessor.” Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, has said he did not step foot on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6.

Kamala Harris is the Border Czar. This is her record. It happened on her watch. She is responsible.
– U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, in a post on X reacting to a new Department of Homeland Security inspector general report stating more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children failed to appear in immigration court, more than 290,000 hadn’t been served notices to appear in court by ICE, and ICE “must take immediate action” to ensure their safety.

This week’s news

— Dem presidential nominee Kamala Harris, her running mate Tim Walz and GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance all visited Wisconsin this week as Dems gathered at the DNC in Chicago.

Harris spoke at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee Tuesday night, where Republicans held their national convention, after Dems symbolically cast delegates for her candidacy.

The vice president and former U.S. senator said her opponent, Donald Trump, hand-picked Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion.

“Bad behavior should result in a consequence,” Harris said. “We will make sure he does face a consequence, and that will be at the ballot in November.”

Harris added: “I promise you, when I am president of the United States, and Congress passes a bill to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade, I will proudly sign it into law.”

Ahead of Harris’ rally, RNC Chair Michael Whatley accused Harris of trying to “save face in Wisconsin during the chaotic DNC.”

It was Harris’ seventh visit to Wisconsin this year and third since announcing her presidential campaign. She attended a rally in Eau Claire Aug. 8 and a rally in West Allis right after her campaign launched.

Ahead of Harris’ rally on Tuesday, Vance visited Kenosha for a press conference nearly four years after violent protests hit the city following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Vance claimed Harris wants to defund the police and Democrats want to take away the right to public safety. The Ohio senator shared a story of police coming to help when he was 11 or 12 years old and his mother was struggling with addiction.

“They showed up and they took care of my mom and they made a little kid who was terrified of what was going on in his home, they made that little kid feel safe,” Vance said. “And I think about what situation would I have been in, and what situation our country would be in, if we take away every child’s right to public safety?”

Vance appeared at the Kenosha County Courthouse for his fourth Wisconsin stop this year alongside law enforcement, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, and U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville. Kenosha County is a swing area in the swing state of Wisconsin.

Kenosha County Sheriff David Zoerner and the Kenosha Professional Police Association endorsed the Trump-Vance ticket at the Kenosha event.

Meanwhile, during the DNC in Chicago:

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, said he sees new Dem enthusiasm translating into “remarkable results coming out of Wisconsin come November.” Pocan also said he doesn’t regret backing state Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point, in the Dem 3rd CD primary after Rebecca Cooke of Eau Claire emerged victorious.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, at a Wisconsin delegation breakfast knocked Republicans for asking people if they are better off than they were four years ago and said Dems should show voters “we got a woman in the driver’s seat” with Harris.
Young Wisconsin delegates say they are energized by the Harris-Walz ticket and delegates reflected on former President Joe Biden passing the torch to Harris.
Wisconsinites joined the March on the DNC, where pro-Palestinian protesters called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and an embargo of U.S. arms to Israel and voiced dissatisfaction with Dems. Third party presidential candidate Cornel West appeared at the rally, where he said he isn’t worried about drawing votes away from Harris, leading to a Trump victory in Wisconsin.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, is expected to address the convention today.

See more national convention coverage at Convention Corridor.

— A staffer for the DNC is urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide whether the Greens should be allowed to place a presidential candidate on the ballot, arguing the party doesn’t meet state requirements to qualify.

The Monday filing argues the court needs to take the case and issue a quick resolution with the Elections Commission poised to meet Aug. 27 to consider ballot access for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

The filing comes after the Elections Commission last week twice declined to hear the challenge, both times on technical grounds.

“Allowing the Wisconsin Green Party candidate to be placed on the presidential ballot in Wisconsin in November would constitute a great fraud on the public by presenting voters with a candidate whom they logically would believe could be elected president, but who, in fact, could not be legally elected,” a brief urging the court to take the case argued.

See more in Tuesday’s PM Update.

— Tony Wied, the Trump-backed candidate in the 8th CD, said he spoke with Donald Trump after his primary victory last week.

“He was gracious,” Wied told “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “He called me on Tuesday night to congratulate me and he was very confident in his decision to endorse me. He knows that I’ll be an ally for him, that I am all in and supporting President Trump and the ‘America First’ policies.”

Wied, a businessman and political newcomer, beat former state Sen. Roger Roth, of Appleton, and state Sen. André Jacque, of De Pere, in last week’s primary.

“Both André Jacque and Roger Roth called me that night and we discussed we are united as a Republican Party,” Wied said. “They are supportive of me, and I thank them for that. I also thank them for the spirited debate throughout this process of the last five months, and we each fought hard for what we believed in. The voters ultimately made the call. But again, we are united.”

Wied faces Democrat Kristin Lyerly in November. Lyerly’s campaign challenged Wied to a debate calling him “Phony Tony” in a statement after Tuesday’s results.

“I’m looking forward to a spirited debate with my opponent,” Wied said. “I’d absolutely be open to it. That’s the process. And I think people need to understand who I am and who we are and make that decision on what is best for this country right now.”

— Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors editor for The Cook Political Report, says Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race is the only one in key swing states that has tightened since its last poll.

Dem U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin had a 7-point lead over Republican challenger Eric Hovde in its latest survey out last week, down from a 12-point lead in May.

“We’ve seen a lot of money poured into this race,” Taylor told “UpFront.” “Baldwin in other polls, we didn’t test favorability, but in a recent Marquette (Law School) survey, she still remains sort of about 1-to-1. And we’ve really seen Hovde’s negatives go up since he entered the race, still largely more undefined than Baldwin is.

“This is a race that when I talk with national Republicans that look at it, it’s certainly a race that’s going to be competitive,” Taylor added. “But it’s not up there with the most competitive Senate races. I think that goes to Montana and Ohio for sure and then probably even Michigan or Pennsylvania or Nevada might be ahead of Wisconsin at this juncture.”

Taylor said the latest survey found the potential for higher-than-usual split-ticket voters in swing states with U.S. Senate races.

“We’ve seen that particularly voters still, even with the switch that’s happened just over the past three-and-a-half weeks, they still think that Trump is going to win,” Taylor said. “So these voters are telling us that they want to elect a Democratic Senate to be a check on a Trump administration.”

Taylor noted a lot can still change ahead of Election Day in Wisconsin.

“I’m watching to see if this becomes a race about Hovde or about Baldwin,” she said. “I think right now Democrats have made it more of a referendum on Hovde, a lot of the things he said about people in nursing homes. Actually when I was there in Milwaukee for the convention our Uber driver brought up unpromoted that she was repeating one of the Democrats’ ads that Hovde wanted to make obese people pay more for healthcare, and she didn’t like that. So I think Democrats, they really sort of set the tone. Hovde needs to shift this race to make it more about Baldwin.”

See more from the show.

Posts of the week

A few of Kenosha’s finest.

Take a minute to thank an officer today. pic.twitter.com/jUdpvCkrNU

— Bryan Steil (@RepBryanSteil) August 20, 2024

I voted for the CHIPS & Science Act to bring a Tech Hub to the Badger State, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and deliver faster, better health care to working families. I’m proud that our new Tech Hub will do all that and more!https://t.co/i6Zx5RLzRC

— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) August 20, 2024

I went to DaVita in Oshkosh to learn more about the challenges patients face and what Congress can do to help the health care industry. Very informative meeting! pic.twitter.com/BdztIU68iP

— Rep. Glenn Grothman (@RepGrothman) August 21, 2024

Bill Pascrell was a fighter for the middle class, working to strengthen social security and make billionaires pay their fair share.

My thoughts are with his family. https://t.co/VZStxaBY1a

— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) August 21, 2024