After stepping off Air Force Two in Milwaukee on Tuesday for her first presidential campaign rally, Vice President Kamala Harris was welcomed by the usual state and city officials: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
But two greeters—Mayor Johnson’s twin daughters—had a particularly special moment with America’s first woman vice president.
As she approached the young girls, 6-year-old Bella and Madison, who were wearing white dresses with pink and purple bows in their ponytails, Harris bent over and warmly engaged them. After a few caresses from the history-making female vice president, the beaming girls gave her a thumbs up while bashfully smiling.
“She was so sweet and spent so much time with [them],” said Johnson, who was also accompanied by his wife, Dominique.
The 37-year-old mayor told theGrio that the vice president asked them their names, complimented their dresses, and asked them how their summer was going. The thumbs up, he said, was them indicating, “It’s been going pretty well.”
Harris also took a moment to thank the twin sisters for the sacrifice of time away from their father as he hits the ground campaigning on her behalf to ensure victory in November.
Johnson said he was particularly touched that Harris was generous with her time, even though she was expected to move quickly along to her motorcade.
“I know it’s the staff’s job to get the principal [and] to move on. But she stood, and she spent so much time with my girls,” he recalled.
After the “really, really touching” moment with Bella and Madison, Harris told Mayor Johnson and his wife, “Your girls and girls like them — they’re the reason why I do what I do.”
As a delegate at this year’s Democratic National Convention, Johnson said he is ecstatic to cast his ballot for Harris as the party’s nominee for president. His very first time voting in a presidential election was for Barack Obama, America’s first Black president, in 2008.
“Now, less than 20 years later, with daughters of my own, [I’m] in a position, not only to introduce them to the vice president and for them to have that moment they did,” said Johnson, “ … but for me and my wife and so many people in this city and state, to be able to vote for a Black woman to be the President of the United States and to see her win — which I believe that she will.”
Johnson said he is committed to doing all that he can to ensure Harris wins the state of Wisconsin and also vowed to travel across the country if needed. He sees Milwaukee as a major player in winning the state’s electoral votes.
“Whoever wins Wisconsin ultimately will win the White House … in order to win Wisconsin, you got to win in Milwaukee,” he told theGrio.
After delivering her first presidential campaign rally speech on Tuesday, the mayor said Milwaukee voters are “fired up.”
“They are ready to vote for Kamala Harris, and I’m really, really excited about helping to lead that charge and continue to get the word out to make sure folks know about [her] record,” he added.
The mayor described Harris as a “focused, determined leader” who “never forgot where she came from.”
“She’s still in her heart of hearts a daughter of California, that girl from Oakland who … never lost sight of those humble beginnings,” he maintained. “You can see those values in the way that she not just talks to the crowd, but in the intimate moments she spent with my daughters.”
Thinking about the possibility of helping to make history in November, Johnson told theGrio, “It is stirring to the soul.”
He added, “I cannot wait for her to have the opportunity to serve as the first woman, and first Black woman, to lead our country as president of the United States.”