Harris, Walz Duel With Vance in Midwest Rallies

Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, wave as they board Air Force Two, departing Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Wis., on Aug. 7, 2024. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

DETROIT—The Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns vied for voters’ attention in dueling rallies in key battleground states on Aug. 7.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her newly designated running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, stumped in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The pair made a stop at the Detroit–Wayne County airport that evening.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), running mate of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, spoke outside the Shelby Township Police Department in Michigan on the morning of Aug. 7 before hosting his own event in Eau Claire that afternoon.

At the Harris–Walz rally in Eau Claire, Walz leaned into his Midwestern roots, touting his upbringing in small-town Nebraska, his 24-year military service, and his experience as a high school teacher and coach.

“I have to say, this idea of caring for our neighbor, and kindness, and a hand up when somebody needs it, or just the sense ... that people go through things, and to be able to be there when they need it, that’s who we are,” Walz told the packed crowd in Eau Claire.

Vance’s Shelby Township speech highlighted crime and illegal immigration, focusing on an alleged sexual assault committed by an illegal immigrant in that community. The suspect had previously been deported from the United States.

In Eau Claire, Vance visited a Wollard International manufacturing plant to underscore the importance of U.S. manufacturing.

Republican vice presidential nominee and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) walks back from looking at Air Force Two at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Wis., on Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“I’m one of these guys who believes that it’s important that we make more things right here in the USA,” Vance said, appealing to voters in the country’s manufacturing hub.

Walz drew a contrast between himself and Vance by remarking on his own prowess at trap shooting and coaching a high school football team to the state championship, before saying Vance, who also hails from poverty in the Midwest, went on to receive an Ivy League education and work for a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

“Come on, that’s not who Wisconsin is, that’s not who Minnesota is,” Walz said.

Harris, speaking after Walz, pledged to ensure a future where “every worker has the freedom to join a union,” which drew cheers from the crowd. The vice president called herself and her running mate “joyful warriors.”

The Midwest, particularly Michigan and Wisconsin, is seen as crucial to securing the White House. The states have 15 and 10 electoral college votes, respectively. Democrats won both states in 2020 with narrow margins after Republicans carried them in 2016. They are often referred to as the “Blue Wall,” along with Minnesota and Illinois, but have become swing states in recent elections.

In the Wolverine State, Harris holds a 1.7 percentage point lead over Trump, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average. In various different state polls, either Harris or Trump are slightly ahead of the other, and one poll released on Aug. 1 from Public Opinion Strategies has them tied.

In Wisconsin’s polling average, Harris holds a similar 1.6 percentage point lead over Trump. While Harris leads in the state polls from Public Opinion Strategies and Marquette University Law School, she remains tied with Trump in an Aug. 6 poll from Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

As Harris and Trump remain neck and neck in the Midwest, Walz’s potential appeal to this region and swing state voters is seen as one reason that he may have been given the vice presidential nod over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.