Harris and Walz to take bus tour through Pennsylvania ahead of Democratic convention

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will roll through Pennsylvania on a bus tour Sunday, dropping in on the crucial battleground state just days before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will roll through Pennsylvania on a bus tour Sunday, dropping in on the crucial battleground state just days before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 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.