WATERTOWN, Wis. — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making sure to cover all their bases in the last week of campaigning in Wisconsin, a state where narrow margins have determined four out of the last six presidential elections.
With a significant turnout of early voters across the state, both campaigns are aiming to increase their support in areas where their parties are strong and to rally undecided and low-turnout voters in crucial counties through targeted events and representatives in order to secure Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes.
Looking ahead at the campaign events scheduled for the week provides an overview of the situation in this swing state a week before Nov. 5, showing that both sides will try to capitalize on their strengths and address their weaknesses in the final push.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney hosted a town hall in the Republican stronghold of Waukesha County earlier this month. AFP via Getty Images
Walz and Barack Obama campaigned in Madison last week. AP
Historically high turnout in Dane County favored Biden in 2020, giving him a solid 52.8% of the vote and 35,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton received in 2016. This county has become a focal point of Kamala Harris’ get-out-the-vote efforts this week, as the Vice President is set to visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Wednesday to appeal to college students in this deeply Democratic stronghold.
Wisconsin’s same-day voter registration policy makes universities a fertile ground for the Harris campaign to target the youth vote until the last minute on Nov. 5.
Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will hold early voting rallies in Oshkosh and Madison on Monday, both cities with significant college student populations. GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Despite the Democratic advantage in Dane County, Trump’s campaign is not giving up on that territory. The former President held a rally in a rural area of the county earlier this month after receiving advice from Wisconsin’s former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson to shore up his support in this area as well as in Milwaukee County.
This week, Trump is sending surrogates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard — both former Democrats — to help narrow his losing margins in the liberal stronghold of Madison.
Trump’s visit to Dane County marked the first time a Republican presidential candidate campaigned there since Bob Dole in 1996. AFP via Getty Images
On Monday, Harris’ running mate Tim Walz visited counties where the Harris campaign could benefit from reducing Trump’s margin of victory, such as Manitwoc in Brown County and the City of Waukesha in Waukesha County.
Both candidates have been actively campaigning in western Wisconsin, the location of Wisconsin’s most closely watched congressional race, the 3rd Congressional District. AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s margin of victory in Waukesha County was 28.1 points in 2016, but decreased to 20.8 in 2020 — a decline that the Harris campaign hopes to leverage.
The former President will focus on the Republican-leaning Brown County on Wednesday, where he will campaign with former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre in the city of Green Bay. He aims to strengthen his support in this area after winning the county by 7.2 points in 2020.
Trump will then return to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Friday in an attempt to lessen Biden’s 40-point margin of victory in Milwaukee County during the 2020 election.
Trump accepted the GOP’s nomination at the Fiserv Forum during the Republican National Convention this summer. REUTERS
Harris drew a large crowd at the Fiserv Forum for a rally during the Democratic National Convention. AFP via Getty Images
First Lady Jill Biden and Gwen Walz rallied support from teachers at an Educators for Harris event in La Crosse on Monday, while the Trump campaign sent Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) to gather votes in the western Wisconsin city of Eau Claire.
Both campaigns have organized events in traditional strongholds of the opposing party in Wisconsin. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
Biden won Eau Claire and La Crosse counties by 10.8 and 13.5 points, respectively, in 2020.
On Monday, Trump’s running mate Sen. J.D. Vance will attend events in Racine County to bolster his 4-point victory margin from 2020, and later head to predominantly Republican Marathon County to reinforce his 18-point advantage from the previous election cycle.
With historically narrow victory margins in Wisconsin, both campaigns are leaving no votes to chance.
All eyes will be on these battleground areas in Wisconsin as the election results come in on election night.
The Harris campaign did not respond immediately to a request for comment, but Team Trump’s Wisconsin Communications Director Jacob Fischer told The Post that Republicans will make every effort to secure victory in the battleground state as they approach Nov. 5.
“Team Trump has been present throughout the state, from conservative counties like Waukesha to liberal areas like Milwaukee and Eau Claire. Unlike Kamala Harris’ extreme liberal agenda, President Trump is focused on addressing the most important issues for Wisconsinites,” he said.
“Our message is clear: President Trump will fix what Kamala Harris broke.”