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Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she disembarks Air Force Two upon arriving at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 23, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
CNN
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Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit Wisconsin on Tuesday, her first visit to the battleground state since winning the Democratic presidential nomination to challenge President Donald Trump.
Harris's Milwaukee rally marks the start of a new phase in the 2024 campaign, one she heralded with a visit to campaign headquarters on Monday, when she presented a much more energetic style than President Joe Biden has displayed in recent months, drawing a sharp contrast with her former president.
It also marked the end of two historic days that transformed the course of the race.
By Monday night, less than 36 hours after Biden announced he was dropping out of the race and endorsing his vice president, Harris had secured enough support from delegates to the Democratic National Convention to effectively clinch the nomination.
Harris raised more than $100 million from 1.1 million donors between Sunday and Monday, 62% of whom were first-time donors, according to campaign officials — a massive figure that reflects new energy among a previously depressed Democratic base.
The top two congressional Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, voiced their support for Harris at a press conference on Tuesday, joining a string of Democratic lawmakers and governors who have voiced their support.
“Now that it's been a grassroots, bottom-up process, we're here to support Harris,” Schumer said.
The visit to Wisconsin, one of three “Blue Wall” states along with Pennsylvania and Michigan, will be Harris' fifth this year and her ninth since becoming vice president.
With Biden as the Democratic nominee, the party's path to winning 270 electoral votes goes directly through these states.
The same could be true for Harris, but it remains to be seen whether an alternative path that includes the Sun Belt battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia figures into a big part of her calculations.
Among the names being mentioned as finalists for the vice presidential nomination are North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, along with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder and his law firm Covington & Burling will be vetting Harris as a running mate, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The audition is already in full swing, with Beshear delivering a rhetorical 2×4 speech to Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, calling the GOP vice presidential nominee a “fake” and a “phony” and noting his evolution from Trump critic to MAGA successor.
“The problem with J.D. Vance is he doesn't have any convictions, but I think his running mate has 34 convictions,” Beshear said in an interview with CNN's Caitlin Collins on Monday night.
Several top Wisconsin Democrats, including two-term Gov. Tony Evers and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is up for reelection this year, have endorsed Harris. They are among a long list of Democratic officials and candidates who will appear with the vice president on Tuesday.
The Harris campaign continues the infrastructure established during Biden's term as candidate, with 48 coordinating offices in 43 counties in Wisconsin and 160 full-time staff members.
The campaign has touted its increased organization since Harris announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination, with more than 58,000 people signed up to volunteer as of Tuesday morning, up from about 30,000 announced Monday afternoon.
Harris previewed how she will campaign against Trump during a speech on Monday at Biden's former campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, which was quickly converted into her own campaign headquarters.
Harris referred to her campaign staff to the former president's scandals and legal troubles.
“I fought criminals of all kinds,” she said, reflecting on her time as district attorney and California attorney general.
“A predator who abuses women, a conman who deceives consumers, a conman who breaks the rules of his own game,” Harris said, “so I often say I know what type of person Donald Trump is.”
CNN's Arlette Saenz and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.