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WATERTOWN, Wis. – The Milwaukee community had strong reactions to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launch and Tuesday visit to Milwaukee. The state Democratic Party endorsed Harris for president less than 24 hours before her visit and turned out an energetic crowd of more than 3,000 for her rally.
🚨 BREAKING: The Democratic Party of Wisconsin endorses Kamala Harris for President, announces support of >90% of delegates to the Democratic National Convention as pledges roll in. We’re united, fired up, and ready to deliver Wisconsin for Kamala Harris! 🌴🥥— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) July 22, 2024
The Post spoke with Milwaukee voters before and after Harris’ visit to weigh in on her entrance into the race.
One of them is Dr. Tamika Johnson, 46, who’s been a teacher for 25 years. In a phone interview she told The Post that she had planned to vote Libertarian this election and was “not surprised” by the vice president’s rise to the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democrats.
But she wants to know more about Harris’ agenda, and not, she emphasized, “business as usual.”
What would a President Harris do about “education in populated, urban areas,” in Milwaukee and across the country? Johnson wants to know, and she’s done her homework. The long-time educator listed high unemployment rates, wages for educators, high crime rates, the judicial system, mass incarceration of innocent black men and high rent and housing in urban areas as the issues she would like the candidate to address.
When asked if she would consider supporting Harris, Johnson responded, “If she’s very clear and has a serious plan for addressing those issues, I probably will.”
As for Donald Trump and his 34 felony convictions? She has thoughts about that too.
“If a felon can still run for president…they owe the black community an apology,” Johnson said emphatically. “They owe black men an apology,” she continued, citing the difficulty that black men face in finding a job with felony convictions under their belt.
Another voter, who The Post is calling by her initials “S.M.,” was born and raised in Milwaukee. She’s enrolled in college right now and helping with voter registration and engagement.
S.M. is an undecided voter but she told The Post she “definitely won’t be voting for Kamala Harris,” and has “never been a fan of hers ever since she was a DA back in California.”
As a black woman, S.M. is skeptical of Harris’ claim to her vote and is concerned the Vice President is “using black women.”
“I’m not a liberal,” she asserted, “Not one who allows someone else to think for me.”
The 27-year old college student said that “as it stands,” she will likely vote for Trump because she’s not sure, “how far RFK will go.” The top issue for her this election is immigration and “wide open” borders.
She feels the current border situation is “disrespectful to us as citizens” and the U.S. needs to “have a clue on who’s here,” referring to illegal immigrants.
Asked about her reaction to Harris’s campaign message that as a prosecutor she knows “Trump’s type” and can take him on, S.M. responded: “He’s already convicted. The DA doesn’t handle people after they’ve been convicted,” adding that Harris has a poor history to reflect on as an “over-prosecutor.”
Instead, as someone worried about immigrants in the country illegally, S.M. would have liked to hear the Vice president say, “As a former DA I will use my skills to do what’s needed to keep Americans safe.”
Sharon Gray, 48, was a small business owner in Milwaukee before the pandemic. Now she is a warehouse worker in Milwaukee, where she has lived for over 30 years. Gray watched the drama unfold over the top of the Democratic ticket this weekend with interest. “Why is [Harris] not the president if [Biden’s] stepping down [from the ticket]?” Gray mused.
The former small business owner says she will be a “third time Donald Trump supporter” this Fall, and spoke to The Post about Harris’ record as Attorney General in California.
“What does she mean?” Gray asked in response to Harris’ claim that, as a prosecutor, she can “take care of” Trump.
“Like she took care of those black men in California?” Gray retorted, referring to allegations that a Harris Attorney General’s office argued to keep non-violent offenders in the prison system longer than required to combat wildfires.
For Gray the election comes down to immigration and crime, “because in Milwaukee [crime] is rampant.”
Those two issues go hand-in-hand for Gray.
“We got Roe v. Wade dropped back to the states, and that’s fine,” Gray noted, quipping that although black women supposedly “need abortions,” it’s not a top issue for her.
Benjamin “Benjammin” Hook is the co-host of a new radio show “Jammin with Juice” on The Truth 101.7 FM in Milwaukee. The station interviewed Vice President Harris, Hook told The Post, before her presidential race.
At the rally on Tuesday, Hook said it was “cool to see [Harris] now running for president.” Hook wanted to hear the Vice President “combat Trump’s accusations towards the Democratic party” and talk about the shooting of Sonya Massey – a black woman who called 911 for help – by an Illinois Sheriff’s deputy.
Although the Vice President released an official statement Tuesday saying “Sonya Massey deserved to be safe,” calling on “swift action” from the State’s Attorney’s Office, she did not mention Massey during her speech in Milwaukee.
Oh his radio show on Monday, Hook said that he “hopes [Harris] does win,” and thinks “she will bury that mug alive” on the debate stage as a former DA.
Voters across Milwaukee have shown mixed reactions from skepticism to enthusiasm toward Harris as presumptive presidential nominee.
