Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she arrives in San Francisco, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to rally in Las Vegas on Sunday night as both she and Republican Donald Trump continue to frequent Nevada, looking to gain momentum in the swing state as Election Day nears.
The rally is part of Harris’ latest West Coast swing, which included making her first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking over for President Joe Biden atop the Democratic presidential ticket, where she walked alongside a towering, rust-coloured border wall fitted with barbed wire in Douglas, Arizona, and met with federal authorities.
Harris’ four-day trip was crafted with dual purposes: She was opening and closing the trip with stops in the Sun Belt battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada, where the vice president is trying to shore up support as Trump pounds her relentlessly over illegal migration. And her mid-stay in California was devoted to hauling in campaign contributions from donors in her blue home state.
“This race is as close as it could possibly be,” she said Saturday to a raucous crowd of donors. “This is a margin-of-error race.”
Harris said even if there is enthusiasm, she’s running like an underdog. And she invited people to “join our team in battleground states” to help get voters to the polls – even if it’s Californians making calls from home.
Before flying to Las Vegas for the Sunday night rally, the vice president held a large fundraiser in Los Angeles that attracted a number of celebrities. Attendees included Stevie Wonder, Keegan-Michael Key, Sterling K. Brown, Demi Lovato, Jessica Alba and Lily Tomlin. Performing for the crowd were Halle Bailey and Alanis Morissette.
Harris’ border visit seemed to get under Trump’s skin. The GOP leader spent two days railing about Harris at two separate rallies, upping his personal attacks against her, claiming she was responsible for a border “invasion,” and stirring up unfounded fears that she’d usher in lawlessness if elected.
On Sunday, former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake became the latest prominent Republican to endorse Harris and Walz. He credited them with a “fine character and love of country” and said he wants a president who does not treat political adversaries as enemies or try to subvert the will of voters.
Flake, a long-time critic of the former president, joins a list of anti-Trump Republicans who have said they will vote for the Democratic ticket, not just refrain from voting for Trump. Among them is Dick Cheney, the deeply conservative former vice president, and his daughter, Liz.
But Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan, a former Republican governor and a sharp critic of Trump, said Harris has yet to earn his vote, though Trump won’t get it.
In Nevada, all voters automatically receive ballots by mail unless they opt out – a pandemic-era change that was set in state law. That means most ballots could start going out in a matter of weeks, well before Election Day on Nov. 5.
Harris heads back to Las Vegas on Oct. 10 for a town hall with Hispanic voters. Both she and Trump have campaigned frequently in the city, highlighting the critical role that Nevada, and its mere six votes in the Electoral College, could play in deciding an election expected to be exceedingly close.
Trump held his own Las Vegas rally on Sept. 13 at the Expo World Market Center, where Harris is speaking Sunday. She’s gone out of her way to troll the Republican candidate, scheduling events at the same venue where he spoke, including Milwaukee, Atlanta and suburban Phoenix.
During a campaign stop in the city in June, Trump promised to eliminate taxes on tips received by waiters, hotel workers and thousands of other service industry employees. Harris used her own Las Vegas rally in August to make the same promise.
Fully doing away with federal taxes on tips would probably require an act of Congress. Still, Nevada’s Culinary Union, which represents 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and Reno, has endorsed Harris.
Ted Pappageorge, the culinary union’s secretary-treasurer, said the difference between the duelling no-taxes-on-tips proposals is that Harris has also pledged to tackle what his union calls “subminimum wage,” where employers pay service industry workers small salaries and meet minimum wage thresholds by expecting employees to supplement those with tips.
“That shows us she’s serious,” Pappageorge said.
Harris has no public schedule on Tuesday, when her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, squares off against Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance for the first and only vice presidential debate of the campaign. But Harris and Walz will campaign jointly on Wednesday, making a bus tour with various stops through central Pennsylvania.
Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz will square off on Oct. 1 in the sole vice presidential debate of the 2024 U.S. election. While vice presidential face-offs don't historically move the needle, this year might be different.
The Associated Press