Harris rallies supporters in Democratic stronghold of Madison

MADISON Wis. (CBS 58) -- Vice President Kamala Harris rallied supporters in Madison, her first visit to the deep blue college town and fourth time traveling to the battleground state this year.

Under 50 days until the November election, Harris spoke to a crowd of 10,500 people at the Alliant Energy Center coliseum.

Her visit comes as voting is underway in the battleground with absentee ballots hitting voters' mailboxes this week.

"We know this is going to be a tight race until the very end," Harris said. "We are the underdog in this race, and we have some hard work ahead of us, but we like hard work."

During her remarks, Harris hit on many themes central to her campaign such as her plan to issue tax credits to new homeowners and parents, touting her time serving as a former prosecutor, and protecting reproductive rights.

"We are having a full-on assault of our rights… This is a health care crisis and Donald Trump is the architect," Harris said about the former president touting the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Coming to Madison is part of the campaign's goal to "turn up votes" in Dane County and on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, an area that's helped propel Democratic candidates to victory in recent statewide races.

It's also part of the campaign's strategy to reach young voters, a crucial voter block that’s gravitated towards Harris in wake of President Joe Biden stepping aside.

"She's letting us know the youth vote matters and people in Madison matter," said Kate Meyer, a student at UW-Madison.

"I think it's important [to visit Madison] to let us know she's here for us and cares about every single vote," said Roy Meyer, a student at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Ahead of the rally, the Harris campaign touted the opening of its 50th campaign office that opened next to the UW-Madison campus.

The campaign now has a campaign headquarters in 43 counties. That's compared to the Trump campaign who has over 40 offices across the state.

Several new polls in Wisconsin this week showed a very tight race. This month's Marquette Law School poll had Harris up by 4-points over former President Donald Trump, within the poll's margin of error.

The Trump campaign knocked Harris for losing out on an influential endorsement from the Teamsters this week.

“Kamala couldn’t have picked a worse time to visit Wisconsin," said Jacob Fischer, a Trump campaign spokesperson. "Since her last visit to the state, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters released polling showing that most of their rank-and-file members support President Donald J. Trump."

Harris' last visit to Wisconsin was when she held a rally with her running mate Tim Walz at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee during the Democratic National Convention.

JD Vance, the Republican vice president nominee, visited Eau Claire earlier this week highlighting immigration policies.