Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (l), the Democratic nominee for vice president and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) the GOP nominee for vice president. (Official photos/ Capital-Star composite)
With just over six weeks to go until the general election and 10 days until the two candidates for vice president face off in a debate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) will be campaigning in neighboring counties in the eastern half of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Walz, the Democratic Party’s candidate for vice president, will be leading a rally on Saturday morning in Bethlehem, while Vance, the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate, will deliver remarks to supporters in Berks County in the afternoon.
“With 50 coordinated field offices across Pennsylvania, Team Harris-Walz is running one of the most aggressive presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania in recent history, reaching every corner of the Commonwealth including regions like Lehigh Valley that are critical to winning the state, underscoring Team Harris-Walz’s commitment to making inroads in rural and traditionally more conservative regions,” according to a release from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
“President Trump has always supported Pennsylvania’s families with his America First Policies, and alongside Senator JD Vance he will deliver for them again when Pennsylvanians vote to send President Trump back to the White House this November,” a press release from former President Donald Trump’s campaign wrote promoting the event at the Berks County Fair.
Both running mates have made multiple visits across the Keystone State since joining their respective parties’ tickets.
Walz’s most recent appearance in Pennsylvania included a two-day swing through multiple counties and a rally in purple Erie County in the northwest on Sept. 5. Vance’s most recent visit was also in Erie County, on Aug. 28.
The communities hosting the vice presidential candidates on Saturday have sizable Latino populations. Data from the 2020 U.S. Census shows Lehigh County has the largest percentage of Hispanic residents in the state, with 25.9%, followed closely by Berks County with 23.2%.
Allentown, just a brief drive from Bethlehem, is Pennsylvania’s largest city with a majority Latino population. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff led a rally for the Harris-Walz ticket in Allentown on Sept. 7 with a focus on courting Latino voters, while Walz will reportedly be joined by actors Liza Colón-Zayas and Anthony Ramos on Saturday during the rally.
Leesport, located in Berks County, is a short ride from Reading, a city with a Hispanic population of 69%, according to 2020 Census data. The Trump campaign opened a campaign office in Reading with the intention of swaying Latino voters in June.
While both counties have sizable Latino populations, they typically don’t vote the same for candidates at the top of the ticket and had mirroring results in the previous presidential election.
In 2020, 53% in Lehigh County, where Allentown is located, voted for Democrat Joe Biden, while 53% voted for Trump in Berks County.
A bevy of national polls released this week showed Harris and Trump in a close race for Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, the battleground state with the most electoral votes up for grabs. The Cook Political Report and multiple other national ratings outlets rate the presidential race in Pennsylvania as a “toss-up.”
Harris was in Philadelphia on Tuesday for a panel interview with the National Association of Black Journalists.
Trump was originally scheduled to be in Bucks County on Sunday, but that visit has been canceled. However, Vance will visit the purple suburban county just north of Philadelphia for a rally on Sept. 28.
Trump will be in the western half of the commonwealth on Monday for a roundtable discussion on agriculture in Westmoreland County and a rally in Indiana County.
In addition to Vance’s rally on Saturday afternoon, he’s scheduled to participate in an interview with conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson at the Giant Center in Hershey in the evening. Carlson will host Alex Jones, a conservative conspiracy theorist in Reading on Monday.
This is a developing story that will be updated
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