Doorknockers on both sides of the aisle reflect on primary day and the presidential race ahead

CATHY WURZER: I'm Cathy Wurzer. As you heard, Minnesota Governor Walz is in Los Angeles today, talking to union members at the AFSCME National Convention. It's his first solo campaign stop as Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate.

Recent polls show Harris slightly leading former President Trump in several key states and getting support from young voters, who President Joe Biden had not won over. Now, we know polls don't tell the whole story. They're just a snapshot in time.

Three months remain before the election. So we wanted to find out whether the hype for Harris that exists online and in polls is reaching the ground, especially in a swing district that was brought into the national spotlight with the choice of Walz. We're going to talk with a couple of organizers in Southern Minnesota.

Up first, Olivia Webb, who is a DFL field organizer in Mankato. Of course, we just heard from our Hannah Yang, who is reporting outside polling place in Mankato. So it sounds like, Olivia, things are pretty busy in Mankato. Thanks for joining us.

OLIVIA WEBB: Yeah, Hi there, Cathy. Things are going really well-- lots of energy, lots of excitement.

CATHY WURZER: Good. Let me ask you about that energy, and excitement, and enthusiasm, and joy. Given the big turnout at Harris/Walz rallies in other states, what are you seeing?

OLIVIA WEBB: Oh, my goodness. Well, first of all, last Tuesday-- I can't believe it's only been a week since that pick was named. But on that Tuesday, we had so many people just fluently coming into the office, completely organic, just coming in, point blank asking, how can I help? How can I get involved? What can I do? Where can I donate my time, my money, my energy?

People are excited. These are people who know Walz. These are people who've worked with him at West High School. These are people who lived on his block. These are people who were on his football team. These are people who are just so excited to support Tim Walz as a person and Tim Walz as our governor.

CATHY WURZER: So tell me, has your work changed in the weeks since-- of course, all the talk about will President Biden be in or out? He's obviously out. Has your work changed since Kamala Harris has become the party's nominee at all?

OLIVIA WEBB: I would say that our goal has not changed. Our goal is to defeat Donald Trump in November, to install a Democratic president, to maintain our Democratic majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives. That work has not changed.

The energy, and the excitement, and the, I would say, volunteer effort behind those goals has expanded tenfold. We've seen exponential interest in volunteer opportunities, volunteering time. We saw the numbers that donations brought in as Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden's presumptive nominee. We saw what that did. We saw what that energy brought to our campaign. And that's reflected here in Mankato, just as it is reflected here across the nation.

CATHY WURZER: So as you know, Walz was chosen for a number of reasons. One of them is he's relatable to rural voters. But Greater Minnesota, Southern Minnesota, where you are, has turned a darker shade of red in recent years. And it's kind of tough territory for Democrats. There are voters in Greater Minnesota, as you know, who think he's taking the state too far left. How many rural voters do you really think Walz will sway, having Walz on the ticket? How many rural voters could he sway?

OLIVIA WEBB: I definitely think he has a rural voter appeal. We see that in his personality. His humility is strong. He definitely comes off as a relatable politician. He's not an elitist. He's not in any kind of-- I don't know. I would say that he's a man of the people. And people here in Southern Minnesota see that. Because, again, we know him here.

He was our US Representative for six terms. He was our governor for two and a half. We know him as a person here in Minnesota. And to be elected to the whole-- through the whole state office, he clearly brought in a bipartisan coalition. He worked across party lines when he was in the US House. I think that he can bring that to the national level as well because he has that Midwestern appeal. And he has that humility and just selflessness that we really like to see as rural voters in our politicians.

CATHY WURZER: Say, let me ask you about your door canvassers. How are they doing? We're hearing that more and more folks are becoming a little annoyed with someone knocking on their door. They don't really want to be bothered. How are you-- how are you handling that?

OLIVIA WEBB: Yeah, yeah. That definitely is something. I know I've been quite obviously ignored before. But I will say that the people who choose to answer the door are very excited to talk to us.

I had a great conversation with a woman whose son works some kind of TikTok news channel. And he's interviewed Tim Walz a number of times. I had a conversation with a man at the doors whose son was on the same basketball team as Tim Walz's son.

I think that there's just this really great overlap. Everyone has one degree of separation from Governor Walz down here in Mankato. Because he was from here. He lived here for many years. He was elected from here. We know him here. So the people who choose to answer and choose to engage have those really great anecdotes and stories to tell about someone that they know personally.

CATHY WURZER: Olivia, thank you so much for your time. Good luck.

OLIVIA WEBB: Yeah, thank you so much, Cathy. Have a great day.

CATHY WURZER: Olivia Webb is a DFL field organizer in Mankato. We're going to turn now to the Republican side of the race. JD Vance and former President Trump will be in Michigan and North Carolina this week as eight field offices open in Minnesota. Republican campaign staff and volunteers are also making calls and knocking on doors for local races, like Joe Steck. Joe's a longtime volunteer for Republican campaigns in Blue Earth County, which includes the Mankato area. Joe, how are you today?

JOE STECK: Fantastic Thanks for having me on.

CATHY WURZER: Well, I'm glad you could take the time. Thank you so much. So you've been knocking on doors, as you heard me ask Olivia. What are your-- what are you hearing? And what are your other door canvasser colleagues hearing when you get out there and hit the doors?

OLIVIA WEBB: It's a lot of positive, quite frankly. It's shocking the amount that people don't understand when you knock on the door. They just haven't paid attention. And that's why we knock, to put the issues out in front of them and to educate the people in the community. So it's been good.

I did hear some people don't like to answer. And that is true. But the Ring doorbell is one of the greatest creations because you'll get hey, you can leave a message. And you can do a little infomercial right there. So that's sort of-- that's a new thing. And I chuckled and said, this is great. So you still get your message to them.

CATHY WURZER: OK. Good to know. Say, I understand you're talking to voters about some of the local House races. How is that going?

JOE STECK: Good. That's the big thing. We have four-- we're a four-seat minority in the House. It's in my opinion and many people I talk to, balance is the way to go in Minnesota. Having one-party control is always difficult for the opposition. Because sometimes, they don't get a voice. And that's really what we're trying to do is turn the House.

So I've been knocking in Blue Earth County for Dar Vosburg. That's Mankato/Eagle Lake. I've been knocking for Erica Schwartz. That's North Mankato, Nicollet, and Saint Peter. And then I've even gone all the way down and walked in-- I just walked in the parade this weekend for Gary Steuart over in Chatfield, Minnesota. And the big enticement was I could ride my motorcycle there. And they have a Dairy Queen, so ice cream always is a motivator.

CATHY WURZER: Always good we have-- yeah. The Dairy Queen is always, always good. So are you getting a sense that there is momentum, though, for the Harris/Walz ticket since Governor Walz is from Mankato?

JOE STECK: Well, living in Mankato, of course, you're just going to get blasted with that because he was a teacher here. I deal a lot with veterans. I did the veteran outreach for Congressman Hagedorn.

And I can tell you this. I was at a veteran meeting last night. And I don't think our governor is going to get a vote out of that group. They're very disappointed once they started finding out more about him. And I didn't speak up. I just-- I was just part of that group. And I just heard the-- heard what they were saying.

CATHY WURZER: Do you-- do you worry, Joe, about the races down-ballot, that there's so much enthusiasm and momentum for Harris/Walz that could hurt your Republican-- your Republican candidates down ballot, that Trump could maybe bring them down?

JOE STECK: I don't think Trump will bring them down, quite frankly. I'm a policy over personality type of person. And he has good policies that work for the United States. It's his personality that people have a problem with. And you hear it all the time.

CATHY WURZER: And by the way, are you talking to folks who might be undecided? Have you-- have you run into anybody who's not decided yet?

JOE STECK: Absolutely. We'll knock on every door. It doesn't matter if it's a Democrat, a Republican. When you're knocking for local, that's who they deal with. I mean, they don't just deal with the person in their party. Or they shouldn't. Unfortunately, that does happen. You have to deal with everyone.

And when you're looking at Mankato-Saint Peter area, boy, it's a mix. I mean, Mankato is a government town, let's face it. So you're going to have a lot of union employees. You're going to have a lot of people that rely on tax dollars to stay employed.

And you have to do that balancing act between them and the people in the private sector. So no one's really going to say, hey, they're hard left or they're hard right and be successful working in a community like this. So knock on every door.

Some people are-- they'll you, flat out, I'm just voting Republican straight down. Or I'm voting Democrat straight down-- or straight down. Or we're really not sure. This is really confusing. And that's why we knock on doors, so we can inform and get our messaging out there.

CATHY WURZER: Well, Joe, I appreciate you taking time out. I-- and appreciate the time. And I wish you well. Thank you so much.

JOE STECK: Thanks for your time. Joe Steck is a volunteer for the Blue Earth County Republicans.