Trump and Harris will visit Milwaukee

Authors: SCOTT BAUER and AAMER MADHANI

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump will host dueling rallies within 7 miles of each other on Friday night in the Milwaukee area as part of the rush, one last push votes in Wisconsin’s largest county in a swing state.

Milwaukee is home to the most Democratic states votes in Wisconsinbut its conservative suburbs are home to most Republicans, and it’s a critical area for Trump as he tries to retake a state he narrowly won in 2016 and lost in 2020. Part of the reason for his defeat was declining support in Milwaukee’s suburbs and a surge in Democratic votes in the city.

“Both candidates recognize that the path to the White House runs directly through Milwaukee County,” said Hilario Deleon, chairman of the county’s Republican Party.

The dueling rallies – Trump is in downtown Milwaukee and Harris is in the suburbs – could be the candidates’ last appearances in Wisconsin before the election Election day. Both sides say the race for the state’s 10 electoral votes is once again tight. Four of the last six presidential elections in Wisconsin were decided by a majority of less than one point, or less than 23,000 votes.

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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign rally at the Resch Center, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Green Bay, Wisconsin (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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It was absentee votes from Milwaukeewhich are typically reported early the morning after Election Day, tipped Wisconsin for president Joe Biden in 2020

Democrats know they need to turn out voters in Milwaukee, also home to the state’s largest Black population, to counter Trump’s support in suburbs and rural areas. Harris hopes to repeat or even exceed 2020 turnout in a city that voted 79% for Biden this year.

Trump is trying to encroach on the Democratic margin. Deleon called it a “lose by smaller” mentality.

Before heading to Milwaukee, Harris campaigned in the southern Wisconsin town of Janesville, where she mentioned her support for organized labor in a speech at the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

“No one understands better than a union member that as Americans we all rise or fall together,” Harris said. She promised to eliminate “unnecessary” degree requirements for federal jobs and urge private sector employers to do the same.

She called Trump an “existential threat to the American labor movement.”

Harris stated that Trump is “one of the biggest manufacturing losers in American history” and hung on the word “loser” as she was accompanied by union workers in bright yellow T-shirts.

Trump, whose base is working-class voters, has made sporadic efforts to reach out to rank-and-file union members, who have traditionally formed the core of the Democratic coalition.

Trump was in the Detroit area, where he stopped at a restaurant in Dearborn, the largest city in the Arab-majority country, to meet with supporters. Many in the community remain wary after his first act in office in 2017 was to sign an executive order effectively banning travelers from majority-Muslim countries.

“We are finishing our work. We’ve been doing this for nine years and now we’re stopping,” Trump said later at the start of a rally in Warren, Michigan. “And I hope that we will move on to the next phase that will change our country.”

In Milwaukee, many Democrats are “anxious and cautiously optimistic,” said Angela Lang, founder and executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities in Milwaukee.

“Especially given that there wasn’t the same amount of energy in 2016, I think it’s clear that Democrats have learned their lesson about the importance of Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a whole,” she said.

In another late-night outreach to black voters, former President Bill Clinton campaigned with local religious leaders Thursday night at a center celebrating African-American music and art in Milwaukee.

Hillary Clinton did not campaign in Wisconsin in 2016 after her first defeat, a mistake Harris will not repeat. Friday’s stop will be her ninth in the state as a presidential candidate and her fifth in Milwaukee or a suburb. This will be Trump’s 10th stop in Wisconsin, not counting the Republican National Convention that took place took place in Milwaukee, and his third visit to the Milwaukee area.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said Harris’ return to the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee shows she is on defense while Trump is on offense.

The Milwaukee Board of Elections estimated Thursday that it expected to receive more than 100,000 votes by Election Day. But that lags early voting results in conservative suburbs.

“The question that no one knows the answer to is who these voters are voting for,” said Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. “I have a feeling Harris may be in for some nice surprises.”

Lang, the Milwaukee election organizer, said it is a tradition for many voters her group contacts to cast their ballots on Election Day. What if they don’t?

“So we’re in trouble,” said Mandela Barnes, former lieutenant governor and chairman of Power to the Polls, a group that works to increase turnout.

Trump’s rally is taking place in the same place where the Republican convention was held three months ago. Harris’ rally, which will be held at the state fairgrounds in West Allis, will feature rapper Cardi B, who is scheduled to speak only, and performances by GloRilla, Flo Milli, MC Lyte, The Isley Brothers and DJ GEMINI GILLY.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed.

Originally published: November 1, 2024 at 8:08 am PDT