Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Wisconsin Thursday for her
fifth campaign event in the state since accepting the Democratic nominee for president. Harris will be in Ripon, in eastern Wisconsin, for a smaller event than her past rallies. The event will be hosted at Ripon College, with Harris expected to take the stage around 5 p.m.
Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney is set to appear at the event with Harris. Harris hosting a campaign event in Ripon is significant as the town is known as
the birthplace of the Republican party. According to a senior campaign official, Harris plans to address the significance of the Little White School House, which hosted meetings that helped form the Republican Party in 1854. The campaign also touted endorsements from former Republican Wisconsin lawmakers ahead of Thursday's event.
Calm picture of coexistence interspersed with contention
A girl stepped out of the line to get into the Harris event — now stretching past a block — to buy a black and pink “Kamala 47” t-shirt from a vendor. Just a sidewalk separated the vendor from the group of eight Trump supporters, one of whom approached the vendor and said, “Selling Ka-MAH-la stuff, huh?” before returning to her “Veterans for Trump” sign. A gaggle of Harris supporters stood behind the Trump supporters in the grass. Everyone chatted amongst themselves. A pickup truck outfitted with Trump flags circled the block, prompting boos from the Harris supporters and cheers from the Trump ones, before everyone went back to their own worlds separated by just a sidewalk.
Trump protesters get close to Harris campaign event
Scott Beck of Ripon held a “Kamala, McDonald’s is hiring on Nov. 6” sign a block from the line that stretched down Ransom Street to get into the Harris event. A UPS driver gave him and his group of 11 others a honk. He’s most concerned about illegal immigration this election cycle. The group of 11 said they would stay as long as they needed to. “We don’t need her in office, she’s been lying this whole time." A pickup truck driver stopped in front of their signs of “Trump Safety, Kamala Crime.” “Trump’s not here today, so you can pick up your signs and go home!” the driver yelled.
Ripon College students who say they will vote, but still undecided on who
A stone’s throw from Ripon College is Ripon’s Historic Downtown. Anna, a student who plays basketball for the college and declined to give her last name, was just walking back to the college with her four friends after ordering their midday iced coffees. All of them said they were going to vote. One was going to check out the Harris event in person. Anna was going to watch live, and was still undecided. “There’s a lot of issues that I’m not put into a box on, and I’m still figuring out which issue is most important to me,” she said.
Harris supporters gather at Ripon College
Just as Trump supporters are making themselves more visible as the day goes on, two “Harris Walz” flags have been staked up in front of the entrance to Harris’ event at Ripon College. Some attendees with “Harris” buttons have their kids in tow.
All is no longer calm at The Little White School House
Waving both an American and “Trump 2024: Take America Back” flag, a man wearing a Trump mask is getting friendly honks from cars passing by, and shouts of “Yeah!” from passenger seat windows. Ryan Prellwitz, owner of and winemaker for Vines and Rushes Winery just outside of Ripon was thinking of a name for his new rosé blend in 2015. He settled on “Little White Red” and stuck the Republican Party elephant on the label, an ode to The Little White School House. “The wine’s at once acidic, fruity, and dry, but doesn’t dry up your mouth,” similar to how he sees American society, like a blend of white and red wines that make up the 2021 vintage rosé. He said he doesn’t agree with the vice president’s politics. Still, Prellwitz respects the office, and in naming the rosé wine “Little White Red,” Prellwitz wanted to allude to the Republican Party’s founding as a “party for all races, something that it should be doing a better job of expressing,” he said. He didn’t think the vice president’s visit to Trump country was crazy. Just look at the history of Ripon that Prellwitz features prominently in the wines he sells like the“Englebright,” a carbonated wine named after a prominent hotel in the area that burned down, or “The Catt Lady” sweet white wine named after the suffragette born in Ripon, or “Wiskonsin,” a sweet strawberry and grape wine named after how Wisconsin’s first territorial governor wanted the state to be spelled. “Maybe if you just look at a city the size of Ripon, it’s crazy,” he said, “but look at the bigger picture, our history, and it makes sense.” He felt if there were more candidates “from the middle, instead of the coasts,” politics could be like what he believed the vice presidential debate was: “civil.”
Kamala Harris maintains tight 4-point lead over Donald Trump in latest Marquette poll
Vice President Kamala Harris maintains a four-point lead over President Donald Trump in Wisconsin, according to the latest Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday. Among both registered and likely voters, it was 52% for Harris and 48% for Trump. That shows no change from the last poll,
released in mid-September , which had the same numbers for both registered and likely voters. The poll release comes in the middle of a busy week for both campaigns in Wisconsin. Trump held
two events in Milwaukee and Dane County yesterday , while second gentleman Doug Emhoff campaigned in Milwaukee
at the same time . Harris is set to hold
an event in Ripon Thursday and Trump will return Sunday
for a rally in Juneau .
The birthplace of the Republican Party — an expected prominent fixture of Harris’ event — is “closed for the season”
Harris is expected to tie the tenets of democracy and freedom to the site of “the first mass meeting” of the Republican Party at The Little White School House four minutes up the road from where she will speak. The Republican Party’s birthplace is “closed for the season,” according to a sign posted in its window. All was quiet except for a man setting up a table with a laptop, setting up cords and lights, like many newscasters spotted around Ripon.
Mayor of Ripon will attend Harris, Cheney event
Ripon’s mayor, Theodore Grant, was extended an invitation to see Harris and Cheney speak. He accepted. “We’re always happy to have the attention on Ripon of both sides,” he told USA TODAY. “It’s a financial burden on the city, as with any of these events, but we always welcome national candidates coming.”
Security’s tight, but no protests expected
Even students walking to class, some wearing “Trump” shirts, are being told to go around the perimeter of Ripon College barricaded by City of Ripon police SUVs and Department of Public Works trucks. “It’s all hands on deck,” said a Fond de Lac County patrol officer who was not allowed to talk to the media. “We’re not expecting anything major. There’s always going to be hecklers, but you have to prepare for everything, especially since the attempts on Trump’s life.” Harris and Cheney will be speaking outside in a venue shaped like a bowl, according to the patrol officer.
'Wouldn’t you want to try to just see her?'
There are no less than four images of eagles and four figures of Mother Teresa on the wall behind the counter of the Ripon Family Restaurant. Its patrons over the course of an hour chatted, “The tomatoes are too green,” and “What time’s the game, again?” Listening to the chatter, one wouldn’t think anyone knew the vice president was coming until a woman suggested to the group of four she sat with, “Wouldn’t you want to try to just see her?” They responded, “Trump has a price on his head. Look at the terrorists. He cracks down on them.” None of the other three women entertained the suggestion. “Well, I just thought, you know, we could try to see her.” They moved on to talking about a friend’s broken ribs.
Ripon, in Trump country, wakes up to Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney coming to town
A 15-mile stretch of State 44, coming into Ripon from Oshkosh, has no less than 17 Trump signs, just over one for each mile. The highest concentration was at two neighboring houses with three car-sized “TRUMP VANCE” banners and one “HOVDE” sign several hundred feet up the street from the lone house visibly supporting “HARRIS WALZ” and “Tammy Baldwin” along those 15 miles. It’s not surprising, then, that the birthplace of the Republican Party overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
