Eau Claire to host dueling events for Vance and Harris

Eau Claire will be host to not one, but two presidential campaign stops on the same day this week. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, announced last week she’d visit the western Wisconsin city with her as-yet-unannounced running mate on Wednesday, Aug. 7. 

On Monday, the Trump campaign announced that Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance , the Republican vice presidential nominee, will also hold an event in Eau Claire that same day.

The visits are the latest sign the campaigns are duking it out for every last vote in a state where presidential margins are razor thin. Western Wisconsin has long been viewed as a battleground region in one of the nation’s premier battleground states.

This will be Harris’ second visit to Wisconsin in less than three weeks since her presidential campaign began. She visited a Milwaukee suburb just two days after President Joe Biden announced he had suspended his reelection campaign and endorsed her in his stead.

It will be Vance’s first return to the Badger State since he accepted the running mate post in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention in late July.

The Grammy award-winning band Bon Iver — founded by Eau Claire native Justin Vernon — will also campaign with Harris Wednesday.

She is expected to debut her running mate in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, kicking off a tour of swing states that will also include Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona.

Vance is also making his Wisconsin stop part of a swing state tour, with other campaign events scheduled for that day in North Carolina and Michigan.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to more accurately reflect the nature of the campaign stops.