Kamala Harris rallies Reno in final swing state push: ‘Never been so much at stake’
Vice President Kamala Harris is using the final days of the election to pitch herself as a pragmatic alternative to former Republican President Donald Trump, whom she described as “increasingly unstable” and “out for unchecked power” during a rally in Reno Thursday evening..
The rally was part of a campaign tour through western swing states, with only five days until the election. Harris’s Reno event was bookended by rallies in Phoenix and Las Vegas in the push to win two states critical to the presidential race.
Trump, meanwhile, headlined events Thursday in New Mexico – a more reliably blue state – and a suburb of Las Vegas.
The Vice President’s 25-minute Reno speech focused mainly on her promises if elected: tax cuts for the middle class, business owners, hospitality workers who rely on tips, as well as more housing and assistance for first-time homebuyers.
In the final days of the election, Harris is focusing on her agenda for “freedom” and economic opportunity while drawing a contrast to Trump, whom she said he is “increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievances and is out for unchecked power.”
“If elected, Donald Trump on day one would walk into that office with an enemies list. When I am elected I will walk in with a to-do list,” she told the crowd in Reno. “At the top of my list is bringing down your cost of living.”
She said Trump’s plan for ending the federal income tax and hiking up tariffs on imports would cost Americans thousands of dollars annually.
Harris said she wants to help the “sandwich generation” of Americans who care for both children and elderly parents by covering the cost of home-care for seniors on Medicaid and lower the cost of childcare.
She also pointed to comments Trump has made about women and his shifting stance on abortion rights.
“This is someone who does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to make decisions about their own lives,” she said.
Harris’ speech was interrupted on three occasions by protesters, one of whom moved about the convention hall chanting about genocide and the war in Gaza.
“That’s all right, democracy can be complicated sometimes,” Harris said as the protester began to climb the stairs of a riser behind her, drawing attention and anger from the crowd. “We are fighting for a democracy,” she said, adding people shouldn’t be “in jail because they speak their mind.”
“Nevada, we are not going back,” she said as the crowd of more than 6,000 chanted the line back at her. “Ours is a fight for the future and ours is a fight for freedom.”
Speakers highlight high stakes
Polls show the presidential election is highly competitive and could come down to a few thousand votes in the handful swing states including Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina.
“There has never been so much at stake,” said Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who won her 2022 election by only 7,000 votes, helping secure a razor-thin Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate.
Cortez Masto was one of several speakers who urged attendees at the Reno rally to vote and to make sure their friends and families do, too – a sign of just how close the presidential and many down-ballot races will be.
“The eyes of the world are on what you do right here in Nevada,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, citing races for the presidency, Senate and House seats in the Silver State.
Harrison called Harris a “counter-Trump: a champion for reproductive rights, a fighter for the people.”
Nevada voters Laurie and George Hernandez, aged 78 and 86, said they are supporting Harris because of her policies and her vision for the country.
“She stands for the middle class and for all people,” George said.
The couple said many homes in their 55-plus community in Reno have yard signs for Trump, a worrying sign for the lifelong Democrats in the purple state.
“I’m disappointed and nervous that the race is so close,” said Laurie.
California Democrats made the trip to support Harris
U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, a Northern California Democrat, said after the rally that Harris “was spectacular.”
“One of the things I always look for in a candidate for any office is how they grow through the campaign, how they’re able to deliver the message,” he said. “She’s achieved that. Every speech is better than the last.”
“Northern Nevada is a difficult place for Democrats,” Garamendi added. “I expected a crowd but not this big. This is going to be really, really important for winning Nevada.”
“She’s an extraordinarily upbeat, positive, hardworking campaigner,” said Dave Jones, who campaigned alongside Harris in 2010 and 2014 when she ran for attorney general and he ran for insurance commissioner.
“It’s great to see the energy and enthusiasm around her candidacy just as was the case in 2010 when she ran for attorney general,” Jones said. “Many of us have been coming over from Sacramento on the weekends or evenings to go door-to-door here in Reno or other parts of Nevada.”
“The polls are tight but what’s going to make the difference is going door-to-door,” he said, adding that he and other volunteers from Sacramento have been knocking doors in Nevada on evenings and weekends for Harris.
A few supporters came in costume for the Halloween-afternoon rally, including Kathleen Gauthier. The retired Truckee schoolteacher was dressed as an early 20th-century suffragette with a hat, a long black coat and a white sash across her chest.
“It took us 80 years to get the right to vote,” Gauthier said, gesturing at the sash, which had one of Harris’ campaign slogans printed across it: “We are not going back.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 7:23 PM.
