Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz visits Omaha metro on Saturday

Walz, a Nebraska native who is now Minnesota’s governor, last visited the state in August for a rally in La Vista. 

He visited Illinois Saturday afternoon before his stop for a rally at Papillion’s SumTur Amphitheater.

The trip further cements the importance the Harris campaign places on Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District’s single Electoral College vote, known as the “Blue Dot” for going for Democratic presidential candidates twice in recent decades while the rest of the state went for Republicans.

5: 55 p.m. | Walz concluded his speech by urging people to vote, to volunteer and even to contribute money, if they could.

Then he ran through the Electoral College map, which would indicate the Democratic ticket could win 269 electoral votes — a tie.

“One dot makes the difference,” he said. “Omaha: put us over the top, let’s go!”

Jake Jolliffe of Lincoln said the message inspired him to work on getting others out to vote.

“It was really great,” he said. “I like his energy and his commitment to Nebraska.”

Daniel Bodmann of Omaha was pumped as well after the rally.

“I love Tim Walz. I love Kamala Harris,” he said. “We need them to protect democracy. It’s the only way.”

5:42 p.m. | Walz, after speaking about the need for common sense control measures, noted: “Both members of the Democratic ticket are gun owners this year.”

He then claimed that Trump “can’t pass a background check” to get a gun because he has felony convictions.

5:40 p.m. | As he said before, Walz lent some words of praise for “the Republican Party of old” before adding”‘that’s not these guys.”

He said, as he has before, that his values include: “You do you, I’ll do me” and others should “mind your own damn business.”

5:30 p.m. | Walz, who grew up in Nebraska, gave shout out to his sister, the places he lived in the state and the “Blue Dot” signs and what they symbolize but he quickly pivoted to Donald Trump.

He noted that some of Trump’s staff said the campaign had exhausted the Republican candidate.

“It takes a little stamina to run for president. It takes a lot of stamina to be president,” Walz said. “He’s not up to it.”

5:25 p.m. | Shortly after Walz began speaking, a pro-Palestinian demonstrator blew a loud whistle and began yelling “stop the genocide.”

He was removed by security, and Walz continued to speak during the scuffle.

5:24 p.m. | With John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” as his walkup music, Tim Walz took the stage saying, “Hello again, neighbors, it’s good to be home.”

5:10 p.m. | The couple behind the “Blue Dot” signs that started as a homemade emblem supporting Democrats in the 2nd Congressional District and have spread into a 10,000-sign movement addressed the crowd, wearing T-shirts with blue dots on them.

“Signs do not vote. But you guys do,” said Ruth Huebner-Brown, who spoke alongside her husband Jason Brown. She, like other speakers, urged people to make sure to vote or volunteer.

5:00 p.m. | Democratic congressional candidate Tony Vargas takes the stage to cheers and chants of “Tony, Tony” in the SumTur Amphitheater.

Vargas is hoping to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. The race has attracted millions of dollars and is considered one of the few true U.S. House tossups in the country this year.

4:33 p.m. | The crowd let out a cheer at 4:33 p.m. as a motorcade featuring a long line of emergency vehicles arrived at the back of the amphitheater.

Some in the crowd craned their necks and waved.

The campaign then started handing out signs to the crowd reading “Cornhuskers for Harris-Walz” and “Coach.”

4:25 p.m. | Brett Gundersen said he made it a priority to get to this Walz rally after missing the last one in August.

Unlike many in the crowd, he said he wasn’t sure he could have supported Biden. But he got on board when Harris became the candidate and became enthusiastic when she chose Walz as her running mate.

“He’s a down-to-earth guy, like an everyman person,” he said. “He’s easier to relate to.”

4:20 p.m. | Omaha firefighter and paramedic Kellie Rice was a little incredulous when asked why she called herself “a very strong” Harris supporter.

“Have you seen who she’s running against?” said Rice, wearing a “Blue Dot Bonkers” T-shirt while sitting on the grass berm with her wife, Ruth Reynolds.

Rice said she’s already cast her vote for Harris and Walz but wanted to come out to show her support for the Democratic ticket. She said she was disappointed she has to work Sunday and won’t be able to take part in the rally at Memorial Park when Harris supporters plan to form a human blue dot.

“I’m pretty sure they’re not going to let me drive the ambulance there.”

4:15 p.m. | Curiosity brought siblings Brenda and Rodrigo Uriostegui Estrada to the Walz rally at SumTur Amphitheater, as well as the chance to show their support for the Democratic ticket.

They said they like that Harris supports women’s rights, as well as stricter gun laws. And they found plenty of like-minded people at the rally.

“I don’t know any of these people but it feels like a little community,” Brenda Uriostegui Estrada said.

4:00 p.m. | An hour before Walz was scheduled to go on, Lincoln folk singer Andrea von Kampen took the stage and began performing on her acoustic guitar.

She joked that her soulful songs might not be the best way to fire up a crowd before a political rally, but the audience seemed appreciative.

3:50 p.m. | Walz was accompanied by his daughter, Hope, 23, as he descended the stairs from the plane.

He spent a few minutes chatting with Democratic candidates and party leaders, including Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb, U.S. House candidate Tony Vargas and U.S. Senate candidate Preston Love.

Nebraska Democratic Party Executive Director Precious McKesson gifted Walz a camouflage hoodie with ‘Walz’ on the front. He laughed as he held the hoodie up to his chest for a photo.

3:50 p.m. | Grover Korn isn’t quite old enough to vote but that hasn’t quelled his passion for President Joe Biden and for the Harris-Walz ticket.

“I’m a big Biden fan,” he said, displaying his Biden hat as he sat at the SumTur Amphitheater berm area. “I love Kamala Harris. She’s my vice president. She’s pretty cool.”

He likes both, he said, because they are passionate about true equality and are for “real progress in this country.”

Korn, 17, said he took off work to attend the rally and is a volunteer for the campaign. He said he lives in Lincoln and hopes to be a politician or a journalist.

3:45 p.m. | Amanda Tjarks of Omaha came to the rally admittedly overdressed in her hunter orange Harris-Walz stocking cap.

“I know, but there’s no merchandise here to buy,” said Tjarks, who attended with her husband, Erick, a former Republican who was a strong supporter of Mitt Romney in 2012.

“And then the landscape changed, and I became a Never Trumper,” he said. “I stick to it. Not everybody did.”

Both said they are happy to be supporting Harris and Walz and to have a chance to make a difference in the election, eastern Nebraska no longer flyover country because of the state’s system of awarding three of its electoral votes by congressional district.

“I like generally what she stands for, and I think Gov. Walz brings a lot of excitement,” Erick said, mentioning the Minnesota governor’s background as a schoolteacher, football coach and member of the National Guard. “He just seems like a really decent person.”

3:43 p.m. | Walz, aboard a plane with ‘Harris-Walz’ and ‘A New Way Forward’ emblazoned on the side, touched down at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield at 3:43 p.m.

3:15 p.m. | Ernest Thompson of Omaha wearing a outdated “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” T-shirt, though he topped it off with a colorful “Kamala” hat. He brought his 12-year-old son, Ernest Jr.

Thompson said he was excited when Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, having served as a volunteer phone banker for her campaign in the 2020 Iowa caucuses. He still recalled the script he read, that the former California attorney general was the “best candidate to prosecute the case against Donald Trump,” he said.

He still thinks that now, and he and his son have are both now volunteering at Harris headquarters in Omaha, he said. Thompson works the phone while his son does the keyboarding.

“When we get a new volunteer over the phone, we get to hit a gong, and (Ernest Jr.) gets up and hits it,” Thompson said. “Everyone’s clapping.”

3:00 p.m. | Walz will be speaking against a backdrop of large American and Nebraska flags along with a blue sign that reads “Nebraska Votes Early.”

Early voting in the state started on Oct. 7 and record numbers of people showed up at some election offices.

A banner-like sign in front of podium proclaims “A New Way Forward.”

2:40 p.m. | Near the ADA security check-in, John Spessard sported a shirt reading “I’m voting like my grandchildren’s rights depend on it” as he waited to get into the amphitheater for his second Walz rally.

He said he wants his granddaughters to be able to make decisions about their own bodies, an option he doesn’t believe would be possible if Trump were president.

Soessard has already voted but came to the rally to show his support for the Harris-Walz ticket.

“I could vote Republican, but I could never vote for Trump,” he said, adding, “I could never vote for Trump if I live to be 100” or another 24 years.

2:15 p.m. |  Outside SumTur Amphitheater, calls of “free, free free Palestine” came from group of about 25 people near the entrance to the parking lot. Karima Alabsy of Omaha said the protest was organized by Nebraskans for Palestine.

“We are here because the Harris-Walz ticket has not committed to an arms embargo,” she said.

Alabsy said the group was not advocating for one presidential candidate or the other, rather they wanted to put pressure on candidates before the election to stop selling arms to Israel for use against Palestinians.

2:00 p.m. | Nola, a bulldog-beagle mix, came all the way from Washington, D.C., with her owner, Stephanie Bluma, for Gov. Tim Walz’s rally in Papillion. Nola was decked out in her blue dot outfit and a Harris-Walz hat.

“She’s got her blue dots. She’s ready to go,” Blume said.

Bluma said she grew up in Millard and made the trip Saturday because she heard they were going to be a lot of people and a lot of excitement.

Walz is expected to arrive at the venue, which holds about 2,500 people, around 5 p.m.