Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, will embark on a bus campaign tour in southwestern Pennsylvania on Sunday. They will be accompanied by their spouses, Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, stopping in the Pittsburgh area to engage with voters. Harris and Emhoff are scheduled to speak at an event in Rochester, Beaver County, a region won by Donald Trump in 2020, despite losing the general election to Joe Biden.
Southwestern Pennsylvania holds significance as part of a crucial battleground state. Both Harris and Trump are competing vigorously to secure Pennsylvania’s support in the upcoming election. Polls, including from the New York Times/Siena College and Fox News, indicate a close race between Harris and Trump in the state. Trump recently held a rally in Wilkes-Barre, after previous rallies in Harrisburg and Butler.
Harris’s visit to Pennsylvania marks her eighth trip to the state this year and her second for the month. The bus tour comes after her announcement of Walz as her running mate, with their first joint appearance in Philadelphia in August. Experts view southwestern Pennsylvania, including Allegheny County with its mix of urban, suburban, and rural voters, as a critical area for both campaigns to target undecided voters.
In the 2020 election, Allegheny County favored Biden while Beaver County went for Trump. Biden’s success in Pennsylvania was attributed, in part, to his strong support in Pittsburgh and his appeal to blue-collar workers. Trump, known for his protectionist trade policies and pro-worker stance, continues to focus on energizing his voter base, particularly in areas like southwestern Pennsylvania known for their blue-collar workforce.
Harris’s bus tour aims to harness the momentum of her campaign and reach out to voters in the southwestern region of Pennsylvania. These bus tours have become a conventional strategy for political campaigns to garner media attention and connect with voters in a more intimate setting outside of formal events. The upcoming Democratic National Convention will kick off on Monday.
