Doug Emhoff Teams Up with Bucks Coach to Energize Voters
The Second Gentleman held a basketball-themed rally to energize early voters on Milwaukee's North Side.
Doug Emhoff campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in Harambee Oct. 24. Photo by Sophie Bolich.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made a campaign stop in Milwaukee Thursday afternoon to energize early voters with a “Dunk for Democracy” block party.
Accompanied by Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, NBA legend and Milwaukee native Terry Porter and a handful of elected officials, Emhoff hit the court at Rose Park, 3045 N. Martin Luther King Jr Dr., rallying more than 100 attendees in support of the Harris-Walz ticket and Wisconsin Democrats down the ballot.
In a speech packed with calls to action, Emhoff urged voters to stay focused on the upcoming election.
“We need people to really understand what’s happening right now,” he said, accusing Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump of attempting to “run out the clock.”
“You need to cut through this ‘Trumpian’ fog — all this gaslighting and misinformation that he’s just throwing out there right now. We can’t let it happen. You can’t be distracted by this — by the shenanigans.”
Emhoff zipped through a list of hot-button topics including the economy, reproductive rights, climate change, gun control and border protection, briefly outlining Harris’s positions and policies for each, and contrasting those plans with Trump’s.
“She’s ready to be commander in chief on day one,” he said to a vocal crowd. “And she has real, pragmatic plans. She’s going to be the president for everyone — all of us — not just Elon Musk.”
In a statement released after the rally, Team Trump Wisconsin Communications released a statement calling those policies “reckless and dangerously liberal.”
Just under two weeks out from Election Day, recent Wisconsin polling shows the race as a jump ball, with Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent, Trump, in a dead heat across the swing state.
“This is the fourth quarter,” said Rivers, who arrived at the rally fresh from a Wednesday night win in Philadelphia. “This is the time you close. Alright? It’s time to close.”
Rivers, who previously coached the Los Angeles Clippers, shared a story about an unexpected encounter with Harris while visiting his daughter at work.
“We started talking about politics and life, and she blew me away,” Rivers said of Harris, who was working as a prosecutor in California at the time. “So five days later, I asked her to come speak to my team, and I introduced her as the future president of United States.”
Porter, who briefly coached the Bucks, shared a nostalgic moment with the crowd. “I took a few jumpers back in the day on this court,” he said. “This is all part of my childhood, and it’s helped me build to where I am today. I love this city, and I’m so honored to be here campaigning for the next president United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.”
A series of speakers including Congressman Gregory Meeks, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, former U.S. Associate Attorney General Tony West and Maryland Governor Wes Moore took the stage before Emhoff.
Meeks, a representative from New York, singled out Milwaukee as a crucial player in the election. “The eyes of not only New York, not only of this nation, but of the world, the eye is on Milwaukee,” he said. “Milwaukee is key to us moving forward. Milwaukee will prevent us from going back.”
While others covered common election-cycle talking points, West, who is Harris’s brother-in-law, spoke to the vice president’s character.
“One of the things that has been so gratifying for me is that over these last 13 weeks, the country is getting to know the Kamala Harris I’ve known for 35 years,” he said. “This is a strong, confident, smart leader. This is a woman who is as tough as she is joyful.”
Notable Milwaukeeans including Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Alderman Mark Chambers, Jr. were spotted in the crowd. After the program, attendees received a hot meal and were encouraged to head to the adjacent Clinton Rose Senior Center to cast their ballots.
Election workers reported lines up to three hours long in recent days at the polling place.
After the rally, Emhoff headed to an evening campaign event in Kenosha. He started the day in Miami before flying to Wisconsin.
Wisconsin visits from both parties are scheduled as the election cycle heads into its final weeks. Gwen Walz will travel to Green Bay on Friday, while Senator JD Vance is scheduled to appear in Racine next week.
Early in-person voting in Wisconsin began Tuesday, with nearly 100,000 people casting ballots on the first day. By the end of the day Thursday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported that more than 292,000 early votes had been cast.
The early voting period will continue through Sunday, Nov. 3.
Update: an earlier version of this article referenced Emhoff in another role.
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His current title is SECOND Gentleman,