The Illinois sign at the Democratic National Convention at the United Center last month. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made another stop in Chicago Friday just two weeks after the Democratic National Convention to stump for his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, as the Harris-Walz campaign looks to build on strong fundraising numbers with two months before Election Day.

Friday’s fundraiser at the Chicago Cultural Center marked the second time over the last month Emhoff traveled to Chicago to raise money for his wife’s campaign. Emhoff attended multiple fundraisers in the Chicago area that netted the campaign $1.5 million the week before the Democratic National Convention (DNC), the Tribune reported. 

Emhoff’s latest trip to Chicago on Friday continued Chicago’s role at the center of this year’s presidential election, despite Illinois’ status as a state solidly in Harris’ column. President Joe Biden held numerous fundraisers in Chicago for his campaign dating back to last summer. Chicago then became the center of the political world last month during the DNC, where Harris and top Democratic leaders praised the city’s hospitality. Several fundraisers for various Democratic causes were held on the sidelines of the convention during that week as well.   

Friday’s event for “Lawyers for Harris” was hosted by John Bunge, an attorney at Quinn Emanuel LLP. The fundraiser cost attendees between $1,000 and $100,000, the Sun-Times reported on Thursday. Harris campaign officials were not immediately able to confirm exact ticket costs or how much was raised. 

“Treat this as the trial of your life,” Emhoff told the attorneys gathered. “Treat this as the biggest deal you’ve ever worked on.”   

Emhoff, himself an attorney and law professor at Georgetown University, catered his fundraising speech to his audience, telling the 200 attorneys gathered to approach fighting in this election the same way they fight for their clients. He said to ignore the “distractions” from former President Donald Trump as he lobs inflammatory criticism at Harris.   

“We all know … that fairness is a given and it must be fair in the economy,” Emhoff said. “We know our economy depends on a solid structure of laws, access to courts and arbitration forums to resolve business disputes. Innovation, free trade, stability and consistency. These are all things Donald Trump does not do.”  

That’s how Harris approaches governing, Emhoff said, echoing themes that were part of the DNC’s final night where Harris’ prosecutor credentials were touted.  

“She’s somebody that always finds practical solutions to the hardest problems,” Emhoff said. “Her mantra, her way of approaching everything, just like a good lawyer, is if you see a problem, then you solve the problem.”   

Emhoff emphasized that attorneys should be worried about a Trump administration as the former president has called for the “termination” of the Constitution. The audience laughed as the second gentleman listed off Trump’s economic policy positions that Trump outlined in a speech Thursday to the Economic Club of New York, which included saying tariffs would pay for childcare, Elon Musk running a government efficiency plan and across the board tax cuts.  

“They don’t know what they’re talking about, they don’t have any real solutions,” Emhoff said.  

Emhoff reflected on his DNC experience in late August, praising Democrats for creating a high-energy convention. He was especially thrilled by the repeated “USA!” chants throughout the week after he had just returned from supporting American athletes at the Olympics in Paris where the crowd often broke into similar chants.  

“It was just amazing to see that at a Democratic convention because it just shows what Kamala Harris and us Dems and really us Americans have done to rally around our country, to rally around this flag, to rally around the Constitution, to rally around right over wrong and rally around what a future could look like where all of us have a place,” Emhoff said.   

Earlier private remarks in the program included former U.S. Attorneys General Eric Holder and Sally Yates, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky was in attendance.   

Emhoff came into town from San Francisco where he keynoted a similar fundraiser on Thursday night. Emhoff, who has spent most of his adult life in California, also made a stop in Los Angeles on Thursday. Harris’ first elected role was as district attorney of San Francisco.   

Friday’s fundraiser came as Harris’ campaign announced a strong fundraising performance in August — the campaign’s first full month of operations. The campaign said it raised $361 million in August thanks to nearly three million donors, which they say is triple the Trump campaign’s fundraising for the month. The Harris campaign says they now have $404 million of cash on hand.  

“Since Vice President Harris announced her candidacy in July, one thing has been clear: voters are excited and motivated to send her to the Oval Office,” Democratic Nation Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “If you need proof, just look out at our fundraising numbers. In August, we had the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history, and our historic war chest will power us through the last two months of this election.”