Harris and Walz to take bus tour through Pennsylvania ahead of Democratic convention
It’s a move that underscores how aggressively the Harris-Walz ticket plans to compete for Pennsylvania and its 19 Electoral College votes. The pair’s first rally shortly after Walz was announced as Harris’ running mate was in Philadelphia, the commonwealth’s largest city, and they embarked on a dayslong tour of battleground states shortly after.
Sunday’s tour, which is scheduled to begin in Pittsburgh, will mark the first time that Harris, Walz and their respective spouses – second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz – will appear on the campaign trail together. The goal, according to the campaign, is to have a cluster of intimate events with voters, ranging from canvass kick-offs to stops at local retail shops.
The campaign has 36 coordinated offices and 300 staffers in Pennsylvania, which Harris has already visited seven times this year. The campaign has touted a robust volunteer operation: Some 43,000 people have signed up to volunteer in the Keystone State since Harris announced her candidacy last month.
The Harris campaign is also discussing holding a rally Tuesday in Milwaukee in the battleground state of Wisconsin, just about 90 miles from the site of the Democratic convention in Chicago, according to a source involved in the talks.
Harris’ ascendancy to the top of Democratic ticket appears to have united the party and returned the race against former President Donald Trump to a neck-and-neck contest. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan make up Democrats’ so-called blue wall of must-win states that Trump won in 2016 only see them flip to Joe Biden four years later.
Trump, meanwhile, is set to hold a campaign rally Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, marking his second visit to the commonwealth since surviving a July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, located an hour north of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania has seen a flood of advertising in the weeks since Biden dropped out and upended the 2024 presidential race. Seven battleground states have been the focus of more than $212 million in ad spending over that stretch, with Pennsylvania accounting for $70.6 million of that total. And across those seven battlegrounds, Republicans lead Democrats in ad spending, by about $109 million to $99 million.
CNN’s Kayla Tausche and David Wright contributed to this report.
The Harris-Walz ticket's focus on Pennsylvania's politics is evident in their numerous visits and strategies, such as scheduled rallies in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The tight race against former President Donald Trump, with Pennsylvania being a critical state, underscores the importance of politics in this election.
