Harris to visit battleground Wisconsin in first rally as Democrats coalesce around her for president

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris makes her first visit Tuesday to a state where her chances of success are in jeopardy after she secured enough support from Democratic delegates to win her party’s nomination to challenge the former president Donald Trumptwo days after President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election bid.

As the Democratic Party continues to coalesce around her, Harris heads to Milwaukee, where she will hold her first campaign rally since launching her campaign Sunday with Biden’s endorsement. Harris has raised more than $100 million as of Sunday afternoon and has garnered support from Democratic officials and political groups.

Tuesday’s visit was planned before Biden ended his campaign but took on new significance as Harris prepares to take on her party’s leadership against Trump and exudes calm and confidence after weeks of confusion within the Democratic Party over Biden’s political future.

The visit comes a week after the Republican National Convention in the city concludes, and as Harris works to sharpen her message against the GOP nominee with just 100 days until Election Day. Wisconsin is part of Democrats’ “blue wall” in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which is crucial to their 2024 plans.

The vice president offered a preview of the themes that will feature prominently in her campaign against Trump on Monday during a visit to her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. She compared her time as a prosecutor to Trump’s criminal convictions — “I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said — and cast herself as a defender of economic opportunity and abortion access.

“This election will present a stark choice between two different visions. Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time before many of us had full freedoms and equal rights,” she said in a statement responding to the AP delegate count. “I believe in a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom, and ensures that everyone has the opportunity to not just survive, but thrive.”

“I am grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who have placed their trust in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people,” she added.

As of Monday night, Harris had the support of more than 1,976 delegates she needs to win on the first ballot, according to the AP’s delegate count. No other candidate was mentioned by a delegate contacted by the AP.

However, the AP is not calling Harris the new presumptive nominee. That’s because convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats go ahead with a virtual roll call before that meeting in Chicago.

The AP count is based on interviews with individual delegates, public statements from state parties, many of which have announced their delegations’ overwhelming support for Harris, and public statements and endorsements from individual delegates.

Harris would be joined by key Wisconsin elected officials, including Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Attorney General Josh Kaul, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler, as well as leaders of the state’s labor unions.