WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign plans to reach out to many of Pennsylvania’s rural counties — and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is a big part of that strategy.
In a memo released Wednesday, Battleground States Director Dan Kanninen singled out four historically Republican counties in Pennsylvania — Cumberland, Lancaster, Union and York — as areas where the campaign hopes to hold down the GOP advantage. In 2020, those four counties gave Donald Trump 72% of their votes, besting Joe Biden by more than 200,000 ballots.
Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, also targeted rural areas when he picked Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.
One of the reasons Ms. Harris chose Mr. Walz was his appeal to rural voters, describing him as “a son of the Nebraska plains who grew up working on a farm” in her introduction at Tuesday’s Philadelphia rally.
“Our campaign will continue to go everywhere, and Governor Walz will be a key messenger in these rural areas where we’re focused on limiting Republicans’ margins,” Mr. Kanninen said.
In her speech, Ms. Harris promised the Democrats would campaign everywhere.
“My promise to you is this. Our campaign will reach out to everyone, from red states to blue states, from the heartland to the coasts; in rural, urban, suburban, and tribal communities,” she said. “We are running a campaign on behalf of all Americans. And when elected, we will govern on behalf of all Americans.”
The Trump campaign said it wasn’t worried about Mr. Walz.
“Tim Walz is a guy who has blasted rural America as ‘mostly cows and rocks,' lied about his military service, and championed the dangerously liberal policies backed by Kamala Harris like Green New Deal-inspired anti-energy policies and free health care for illegal immigrants,” Pennsylvania campaign spokesman Kush Desai said. “Walz is going to be an absolutely critical asset for the Kamala campaign to lose rural Pennsylvania by record-breaking margins.”
The memo also mentioned that the Harris campaign will be focused on Philadelphia and its suburbs, as well as Erie, Luzerne and Northampton counties. Northampton County voters have backed the winner of the presidential election all but three times since 1920.
In addition, the memo highlighted the Democrats’ support from unions, specifically mentioning the endorsement of the United Auto Workers. Over the weekend, UAW President Shawn Fain said Mr. Walz and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear were preferable to Gov. Josh Shapiro to be Ms. Harris’ running mate.
Joe Biden received 56% of the votes of union households in 2020, compared with 40% for Trump. That was double Hillary Clinton’s advantage in 2016, when she polled 51% to Trump’s 43%, according to exit polls compiled by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University.
“In the Blue Wall, you can’t win without the support of union workers — and organized labor is firmly behind Harris-Walz,” Mr. Kanninen said. “In Pennsylvania, organized labor remains a central political force, from the national United Steelworkers in Pittsburgh to the Building Trades in Philadelphia, which are all-in to elect this historically pro-union ticket,”
Mr. Kanninen said Tuesday’s rally in Philadelphia attracted more than 14,000 people. Many of them lined up for blocks and hours to get in. He said the campaign had almost 300 paid staff members in 36 offices in the nation’s most populous battleground state, which is considered a must-win for Democrats this fall.
First Published: August 7, 2024, 9:12 p.m.
Updated: August 8, 2024, 6:52 p.m.
