Vance to make stops in same battleground states as Harris this week

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the Republican vice presidential nominee, is scheduled to make campaign stops in the same string of battleground states that Vice President Harris plans to visit with her still-unannounced running mate this week.

Vance will deliver remarks to the press in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the Trump campaign announced, the same day Harris is expected to debut her vice presidential pick in the city.

On Wednesday, Vance will appear in Shelby Township, Mich., and Eau Claire, Wis., the same day Harris is set to touch down in both key swing states.

The Republican vice presidential nominee will then give remarks in North Carolina on Thursday, the campaign said. Harris is set to visit the Tar Heel State and Georgia the same day, before traveling to Arizona and Nevada later in the week.

Vance’s trips are set to “bracket” Harris’s battleground-state visits, offering a split screen while the first-term Ohio senator himself shrugs off criticism from both Democrats and Republicans that he was the wrong running mate pick for former President Trump.

Trump’s campaign said Vance plans to deliver remarks to the press in each state and suggested he will use the swing state tour to knock Harris over crime, inflation and issues at the border. Harris announced her own multistate tour last week.

Republicans have been gearing up to go on the attack against whomever Harris picks as her running mate. She is set to announce her running mate no later than Tuesday, and will appear with him at the Philadelphia rally before launching the five-day swing through seven battleground states.

President Biden’s historic exit from the ticket last month jump-started an unexpected “veepstakes” for Harris, who has the necessary Democratic votes to get the official party nod. The search has reportedly narrowed to a small handful of prominent party figures, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D) — both of whom notably hail from critical battlegrounds — along with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Harris’s newly formed campaign has seen a surge of momentum in recent weeks, and some in the party think key swing states are back in play as she catches up to her Republican rival in recent polls, upping the stakes for her visits this week.