Where Harris’s campaign is going this week and why the stops matter

Vice President Kamala Harris is making herself busy on the campaign trail as she has now clinched the Democratic nomination.

On Tuesday, her campaign will stop in Philadelphia where she is expected to appear with her running mate, which has been confirmed to be Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Her campaign will then embark on a campaign tour across five more key battleground states. 

In the meantime, her opponent, former President Donald Trump, is only visiting one state, Montana, at the end of the week. Montana has safely voted for a Republican for president for decades, but it has a competitive Senate race this year between incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and challenger Tim Sheehy. The Harris campaign took little time to point out the candidate’s differences in schedules.

Harris was set to go to Savannah, Georgia, as well this week, but the event has been postponed due to Hurricane Debby. Here is Harris’s schedule this week: 

Philadelphia

Harris is starting her campaign tour in Philadelphia, and she is set to campaign alongside her vice presidential pick, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN).

Pennsylvania is a key battleground state with the most electoral votes, 19, of all the swing states. It’s seen as a must-win for either Trump or Harris. In 2016, Trump flipped the state red for the first time since 1988, while in 2020, Biden flipped the state blue once again by more than 80,000 votes.

Detroit

In her first stop during this tour in the Midwest, Harris will visit Michigan on Wednesday. Michigan could be one of the trickier states for Harris to nab as more than 100,000 voted “uncommitted” over voting for Biden in the primary due to their dissatisfaction with his handling of Israel’s war in Gaza. 

Michigan is currently a toss-up. In 2016, Trump narrowly flipped the state by a little more than 10,000 votes, but Biden safely won the state in 2020 by more than 150,000 votes.

Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Harris is not making the mistake of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and ignoring the state of Wisconsin while on the campaign trail. She began her campaign there two weeks ago in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin, and now she is headed to the more rural northwest portion of the state Wednesday.

Wisconsin has a near-even split between voters registered as Democrats and Republicans. In 2020, Biden flipped the state blue by only 20,000 votes. In 2016, Trump flipped the state red by a little more than 27,000 votes.

The presidential race is expected to be close in Wisconsin yet again this year.

Bon Iver, a folk band from Eau Claire, will perform at the event.

Durham, North Carolina

While a Democratic president has not won North Carolina since former President Barack Obama’s historic win there in 2008, Democrats have had their eye on the Tar Heel State. On Thursday, she will visit the state for the eighth time this year.

As her campaign tries to court the Generation Z vote, Harris’s visit to Durham, which is in the Research Triangle (consisting of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and North Carolina State University), highlights that effort.

Harris seemingly has closed some of the polling gap from before Biden suspended his reelection bid. Trump previously led in North Carolina, 47.2% to Biden’s 41.5%, according to a RealClearPolitics poll. A recent Bloomberg-Morning Consult poll, however, showed Trump leading Harris in the state, 48%-46%.

Phoenix

Harris is set to visit Phoenix on Friday. 

Harris and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who is running for Senate, both have the endorsements of many centrist Republicans and independents across the state of Arizona. As Harris visits Phoenix, she is endorsed by John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, a Phoenix suburb that is Arizona’s third-largest city.

During the 2016 election, Maricopa County was the most populous county that voted for Trump, but it flipped blue for Biden in 2020. It is the population center of the state with more than 60% of Arizonans living in Maricopa County.

While the state was once a solidly Republican-leaning state, it has moved to the left in recent years with a notable blue wave during the 2022 election, which gave Arizona a Democratic governor, attorney general, and secretary of state as well as Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). 

The GOP once strongly held both of Arizona’s Senate seats for years, but the party has not won a Senate race there since 2018. Biden won the state in 2020, which was the first time Arizona voters sent a Democrat to the White House since former President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Las Vegas

Harris will visit Las Vegas on Saturday to conclude her campaign tour. Trump is now tied with Harris in Nevada, 43%-43%, according to a recent Bloomberg-Morning Consult poll, and Harris appears to have a new enthusiasm in the state that Biden was not able to capture. 

Nevada has consistently voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the last four elections.

More than 3,000 Nevada residents have signed up to volunteer for the Harris campaign, according to the Washington Post, and after Biden exited the race, Nevada’s secretary of state reported an uptick in voter registration in the state, with 6,000 new Nevadans registering to vote in July.