RENO, Nev. (KOLO) –A highly anticipated event at the Grand Sierra Resort on Tuesday night October 8, 2024.

As Vice Presidential Candidate on the Democratic ticket Governor Tim Walz returns to Northern Nevada as promised.

KOLO 8 News Now Terri Russell spoke with Walz in an exclusive interview.

“I think one thing coming back here to this community, the last time I was here the Davis Fire was burning,” says Governor Walz. “One thing is to thank folks. You really saw the community rallying at that time. It was impressive.”

Impressive too was the number of people who came to see Walz speak on a Tuesday night.

The crowd estimated at 2000 was denied a campaign stop because as Walz alludes to, the Davis Fire was threatening the community.

Instead of a stump speech last month, he encouraged residents to give to those who suffered major losses in the fire.

He then went to talk to firefighters.

“I was up visiting them, last month and just to see them and their courage,” Walz told the crowd at GSR. “This is what Americans do at a time like this.”

Almost immediately though Governor Walz switched to campaign mode and talked about his opponents. “There’s news reporting Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin.” Walz said.

He went on, “I can guarantee you Kamala Harris and I do not have dictators on speed dial.”

But also at the time of his speech, new plans coming from the Harris Walz campaign.

Kamala Harris has proposed Medicare pay for home health care so that the elderly can stay at home instead of landing in a facility. She is also calling for Medicare to pay for eyeglasses and hearing aids.

The question to follow is, how is it all going to be paid for?

Walz points to savings on prescription drugs which means more money is available in the Medicare Program.

“You are going to save with those 10 drugs we negotiated already,” he says. “You are going to save that. You know the cost will come down. You are going to see savings in Medicare. And so, it’s the same thing if you are able to negotiate. If you are buying lots of things you should be able to. The Veterans’ Administration has done this for years. And we save lots of money doing that.”

While these are new proposals by the campaign, there’s always the old hurdle of getting those propositions through congress.

Ever optimistic, Walz believes the Democrats will take back the house and retain the Senate in November.

“In many of these races we are seeing these messages are resonating with folks,” Walz says. “They are not interested in billionaire tax cuts. They aren’t interested in culture war things. So, I am feeling confident we get the house back, there are places there. And our senators are, I think it’s a tough map, but they are doing what they need to do.”

Walz says he and Harris are the underdogs in the presidential race.

They will need the support of Nevada–a swing state.

Those who attended the Walz rally believe Northern Nevada can push the democratic ticket into the winner’s circle.

The political activity is definitely picking up here in Northern Nevada with the Walz visit.

Donald Trump is expected on Friday, October 11,and Jill Biden on Sunday October 13.

The big question is: will Kamala Harris make an appearance before election day?

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