Walz, in coach mode, makes appeal for hard work from Wisconsin voters at Superior rally

SUPERIOR, WIS. – Gov. Tim Walz, in his fourth trip to the battleground state of Wisconsin since he was announced as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, trumpeted women, appealed to the country’s middle class and threw digs at their opponents in the race for the White House.

He also raised his right arm to show off a friendship bracelet — a nod to fellow cat owner Taylor Swift. who endorsed the Democratic duo last week via Instagram.

“Hello, neighbors!” said Walz, greeting the crowd of about 1,200 in the Marcovich Wellness Center on the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus.

The former football coach spoke for just over 30 minutes, delivering a speech with a series of in-the-huddle moments. With supporters on three sets of risers surrounding him and standing on the floor before him, he said the election would be won in rooms like that one.

Superior is one stop on a battleground state tour by the campaign. Walz visited Michigan this week with events in Grand Rapids and Lansing, as well as Wausau, Wis. On Saturday, the campaign itinerary had him flying into Duluth, then hopping across the state line to Superior.

At the Marcovich Center, Walz stressed the motto that he’s made famous on the campaign trial: “Mind your own damn business.”

“Do you want JD Vance deciding about your wife and daughter’s health?” he asked the crowd. “Or would you rather leave it to them and their doctors?”

Supporters in Harris-Walz wear lined up before noon outside the gym, where T-shirt vendors pulled wagons of souvenirs, musicians performed and blue campaign signs lined the adjacent parking lot. A jazz ensemble inside the gym performed standards, including “My Funny Valentine.”

Walz stressed the 52 days left until Election Day on Nov. 5 and the work Democrats need to do to secure every vote possible. It’s all gas and no brakes, he said.

“Sleep when you’re dead,” Walz said. “Let’s give it all. And on the 53rd morning, when you wake up, we get to say, ‘Congratulations, Madame President.’”

Gwen Walz spoke ahead of her husband, contrasting Harris’ message of “Turn the page” with what she said was the backward look of Republican Donald Trump’s campaign. She urged the audience to make the gesture of turning the page of a large book, saying it’s a move that also looks like a “buh-bye” to Trump.

Superior, a city of 26,500 across the bay from Duluth, is deeply Democratic. Mayor Jim Paine, who was raised in Superior and attended UW-Superior, said he couldn’t think of a time in recent history when a Republican won the majority of votes in the city — at least not in a partisan race.

Superior is among a small contingent of historically blue islands in the state’s sea of red rural areas. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has fared well among its voters, as did Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In 2020, Joe Biden narrowly won Wisconsin in the presidential race by securing large margins in the northern counties of Douglas, Bayfield and Ashland, as well as Door, Menominee, Portage, Eau Claire, La Crosse and Milwaukee counties, and areas around Milwaukee and Madison. Those same areas favored Clinton in 2016, though Trump carried the state.

Joel Sipress, a history professor at UW-Superior, described Wisconsin as one of the most important swing states in the election. But Superior, along with likeminded Ashland and Bayfield counties, are far from other cities that historically support Democrats.

“If you want to mobilize and energize people in northwestern Wisconsin, along Lake Superior, it’s important to come to Superior,” he said. “That’s how you’re going to generate attention. You’ll get the Duluth media market. I really think that you get a lot of bang for your buck with a candidate visiting Superior.”

Walz already has a relationship with this community. Just three bridges separate Superior from Minnesota, and the one that’s most used — the Blatnik Bridge — will be replaced, thanks to $1 billion in federal funding received this year. The bridge is managed by both states’ transportation departments, though the Minnesota Department of Transportation takes the lead.

Walz had a hand in securing the federal aid from Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure package. His administration applied for grants, and he met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The project could run seven years and start as soon as 2025.

“I fully expect him to talk about that bridge and infrastructure,” said Cynthia Rugeley, a political science professor from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

She was right. Walz mentioned the bridge project to point out that it wasn’t supported by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, the Republican who represents the Duluth area. Walz talked about the economic opportunities provided by the bridge and the way it connects communities.

Sam Brill, 18, of Superior attended the rally with her grandmother, Jann Brill. A freshman at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, she said she will vote for the first time this year. Saturday’s rally was her first.

“I’m really excited,” she said, describing herself as left-leaning along with the rest of her group of friends. “Harris and Walz are just representing so much more of our country.”

Tamu Carter drove to Superior from South St. Paul, where she is a small-business owner. She said she feels supported by Walz, whom she considers accessible.

“If you met him, you’ve met him,” she said. “If you want to meet him, you can meet him.”

Superior hasn’t always been a hot spot for presidential candidates, though Trump held a rally at the city’s airport in the spring of 2016. Biden, as vice president, visited Superior Middle School in November 2012 in support of President Barack Obama.

Superior is a city whose residents like face-time with the candidates, and a visit can be the difference between voting and not voting for that candidate, Paine said.

“It’s a mistake that other candidates haven’t come here in the past,” the mayor said. “Small districts are the most important places to campaign in this election. In the tipping-point states, it will be cities like Superior that will win it for you.”

As the gymnasium cleared, Paine described the rally as “a blast.”

“The energy in this room shows how it’s going to go,” he said.