Pete Buttigieg hits the trail for the Harris-Walz campaign in Wisconsin liberal stronghold

MADISON - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hit the ground Sunday for the Harris-Walz campaign in a Wisconsin liberal voting bastion, touting what he called a sustained lift in enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket.

Buttigieg's last visit to the state three weeks ago was all business — promoting the Biden administration's efforts at boosting rail and port infrastructure .

Sunday in Madison, the business for the former 2020 presidential candidate was campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz a day before the start of the Democratic National Convention .

Speaking to nearly 100 supporters inside EVP coffee before a day of neighborhood canvassing, Buttigieg touted the campaign's ground game, saying he was "impressed to learn that there are dozens of offices for the campaign in Wisconsin on the ground right now."

"What an amazing energy here," Buttigieg said at the event. "It just feels good to be gathered for a good cause like we are here today. It feels good to be reminded not just what we are against, but what we are for."

Buttigieg in an interview said he expects the enthusiasm the campaign has seen in its early weeks to continue, because Harris and Walz are "exciting" for voters who were concerned about President Joe Biden's campaign previously.

"In the first few days, people were asking 'Is this just the energy of the first few days?' But it's been weeks now and the energy is only building," he said.

The most recent Marquette University Law School poll showed the contest with former President Donald Trump a dead heat in Wisconsin and also showed improved enthusiasm among Democratic voters since Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

2024 election: Marquette poll shows striking changes in Wisconsin battleground race

The Trump campaign has also been active in the battleground state. Running mate JD Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio, is scheduled to make his third visit in three weeks with a stop Tuesday in Kenosha , on the heels of campaign news conferences in Milwaukee and Eau Claire

"From the supply chain crisis to skyrocketing airfare, working families saw their savings and plans decimated by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden," GOP spokesperson Matt Fisher said Sunday. "Pete Buttigieg’s visit to Madison only serves to remind voters of both their disastrous record and the need for change this November."

Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Ind., mayor was joined on the trip by his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, a Michigan native who attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is running for her third term.

Pete Buttigieg said young voters will be a large part of the energy behind the Harris-Walz campaign.

"It's about our lives, and the younger you are, the longer you're planning to be here, the more you have at stake in us tackling climate change, in us doing something about gun violence, in us setting up a fairer economy," he said. "I also think that young people are especially passionate about freedom."

He noted that social media is playing more of a role in elections than ever before, and especially the app TikTok.

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"The way people get information is changing, and I think that has confounded a lot of political campaigns in recent years. It doesn't have to be a bad things by any means, but we do have to adapt," he said. "I mean, sometimes I do a bunch of TV interviews only to find out that I reached somebody because some part of it wound up on TikTok."

Climate change a key issue for Democrats seeking to draw young voters

Buttigieg predict climate change would be a topic that will attract voters to the Democratic Party.

Climate change was for the first time a part of the conversation at events at the Republican National Convention in July, but not on the main stage. Young conservative voters indicated that the issue could drive them to vote for a liberal candidate if Republicans and the Trump campaign don't acknowledge it as a priority to address. r

Pete Buttigieg said making climate change a top issue is important because not only do solutions create jobs in the clean energy industry, but also because young voters want to feel heard when they voice their concerns about the future.

"The threat of climate change is is especially damaging to the prospects of young people," he said. "A healthy dynamic would be one where the only fight between Republicans and Democrats over climate change is over who's doing more to fight it."

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pete Buttigieg hits the trail for the Harris-Walz campaign in Wisconsin liberal stronghold