Vice President Harris Will Visit Milwaukee

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Milwaukee on Thursday.

According to a brief statement from the White House, Harris “will engage with young Americans and meet with local Latino leaders.” Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

The visit comes less than two months before the Nov. 8 midterm elections. Democrats hope to unseat incumbent Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, as part of a move to expand their margin in the U.S. Senate. Harris currently serves as the decisive tie-breaking vote.

But Democratic nominee Mandela Barnes didn’t appear alongside President Joe Biden during his visit earlier this month. Barnes marched in the parade leading to Laborfest, where Biden spoke, but the lieutenant governor didn’t stay for the speech and a spokesperson said he went to attend other labor events across the state. Biden endorsed Barnes during his speech. Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, both Democrats, also face highly-contested re-election bids.

Harris is also to speak at the Democratic Attorneys General Association conference during her visit to Milwaukee. A one-paragraph schedule release from the White House does not include stops in any other cities on Thursday.

It will be Harris’ second trip to Milwaukee this year. She visited in January to tout the expected benefits of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

On that visit Harris met with leaders and trainees at WRTP/BIG STEP, a nonprofit job training organization located at 3841 W. Wisconsin Ave. “We have to finally take this issue not as a measure of a concern, but a measure of impact,” said Harris in a speech. “The bottom line is: eliminating lead exposure in our nation must be among our highest priorities.” Harris’ husband, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, flew with her to Milwaukee, but visited the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center to talk about federal venue relief funding.