Harris and Walz, with help from Biden, to target pivotal Rust Belt states on Labor Day

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will spend Labor Day campaigning in Detroit and then join President Joe Biden in Pittsburgh as the campaign looks to flex its backing from labor groups in critical Rust Belt states.

Harris' stop next Monday in Pittsburgh with Biden will be their first joint campaign appearance since Harris became the Democratic nominee for president.

Meanwhile, Harris' running-mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is set to campaign in Milwaukee on Labor Day as the campaign blankets the three so-called "blue wall" states − Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin − that could decide the 2024 election.

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The Harris campaign did not provide further details on the visits but said the campaign will target seven main battleground states that include Labor Day parades and meetings with local union members. Other closely contested swing states are Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina.

Labor Day is typically viewed as the unofficial start to the homestretch of a presidential election, when millions of voters start tuning in to the race. Mail-in ballots in some states will start going out to voters as early as late September ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5.

Before he dropped out of the election July 21, Biden trailed former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. But now Harris leads narrowly in Michigan and Wisconsin, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, while Pennsylvania is virtually tied .

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Harris has secured endorsements from the United Auto Workers union, which has a strong presence in Michigan, and United Steelworkers, which dominates western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh.

Yet in his 2016 election victory over Hillary Clinton, Trump made significant inroads with rank-and-file union members in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan − despite union leaders' endorsements of Clinton − to help him win each state.

Biden won back some of these pivotal voters in the 2020 election, helping him reclaim Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan for Democrats. Harris is now looking to duplicate those efforts.

The largest union endorsement the Harris campaign lacks is Teamsters, which has so far held off from endorsing Harris or Trump. Teamsters President Sean O'Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention last month in an unusual appeal to Republicans that drew criticism from many Democrats.

Biden and Harris appeared together on Aug. 15 in Largo, Maryland, at an event touting their administration's efforts to lower prescription drug prices. But the visit was considered an official White House visit, not a campaign stop. Harris also came on stage to embrace Biden after he addressed the Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago in what amounted to a farewell speech.

While Harris has framed herself as the forward-looking candidate, the Trump campaign has worked to tie Harris to Biden's poor approval ratings, particularly his low marks on addressing the economy and inflation.

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris and Walz, with help from Biden, to target pivotal Rust Belt states on Labor Day