WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, are set to embark on a week-long campaign push through Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, a trio of battleground states crucial to their electoral prospects.
The Democratic ticket is focusing on the so-called Blue Wall states to rally support before intensifying get-out-the-vote efforts in the final stretch leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5. Polls show tight races in all three states, which Donald Trump won in 2016 before Joe Biden reclaimed them for Democrats in 2020. “It is a tight race. It is a margin-of-error race,” Ms. Harris told reporters on Oct. 12, adding, “the choice is clear.”
Amid signs of softer support from Black voters, particularly Black men, Harris is increasing her outreach in the community. She met with Black leaders in North Carolina on Oct. 12 and will continue her “Souls to the Polls” initiative in the Rust Belt, starting with Erie, Pennsylvania, and later traveling to Detroit for a town hall with Charlamagne Tha God.
Trump, her Republican rival, is also focusing on Pennsylvania, with a town hall in Oaks on Oct. 14 and a campaign speech in Atlanta the following day. Harris will make stops in Milwaukee, La Crosse, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, before returning to Michigan on Oct. 18 to campaign in Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Oakland County. She will also kick off Detroit’s early-voting period on Oct. 19.
Meanwhile, Mr. Walz will start a bus tour in Wisconsin on Oct. 14 and travel to Pennsylvania before visiting North Carolina and Nebraska to energize voters. As the countdown to Election Day continues, both candidates are ramping up their efforts to secure key states in this closely contested race.