Harris and Walz campaign in Pennsylvania ahead of the Democratic Party Convention

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz campaigned in western Pennsylvania on Sunday, addressing voters in this key swing state ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

The first stop on the Democrats' “bus tour” was a campaign office in conservative Beaver County, where Harris and Walz participated in a phone campaign. Former President Trump won nearly 60% of the vote in Beaver County in 2020.

Pennsylvania, which Trump won in 2016 and Biden won in 2020, remains the most coveted state for both candidates. Trump and his running mate JD Vance will make separate campaign stops in York and Philadelphia on Monday.

Harris and Walz later spoke to supporters outside the state office. Harris told the crowd that her campaign was “born out of love for country.”

“When you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for,” Harris said. “When you stand for working people, you fight for working people. When you stand for freedom – whether it's making choices about your body or who you love – you fight for those things… That's what our election is about.”

Harris also said it had been “a perversion” in recent years “to claim that the strength of a leader is measured by who he crushes, when we know that the true strength of a leader is measured by who he supports.”

In his remarks, Walz recalled his time as a high school football coach.

“There's an old saying: 'You don't hope to win. You prepare to win and do your best,'” Walz said. “And when the game is over, you want to know that you gave it your all on the field. And that's all we ask. Let's give it our all on the field.”

The bus tour will include additional stops in Beaver County as well as the Democratic stronghold of Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh and its suburbs. Trump campaigned on the other side of the state on Saturday, holding a rally in Wilkes-Barre.

Copyright: NPR