Election Day Countdown: Harris and Trump in Final Blitz Across Key State

By: Asa Montreaux

As Election Day approaches, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are pulling out all the stops in a high-stakes sprint across battleground states, aiming to energize voters in a presidential race tightening. With Election Day just hours away, both candidates are leveraging their campaign strengths to secure the critical votes needed to capture the White House.

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Kamala Harris, Vice President and Democratic nominee, has set her sights on Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes—the biggest prize among swing states. She will spend all of Monday in the state, crisscrossing working-class areas, with stops in cities like Allentown before concluding the night with a rally in Philadelphia. Her rally will feature an all-star lineup, including Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey, aiming to convince voters she is the more safe choice.

In recent days, Harris has shifted away from directly referencing Trump, choosing to focus on her campaign’s optimistic vision for America.  Throughout her campaign, Harris has voiced her support for abortion rights, taking a firm stance following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that rescinded constitutional protections for abortion. She has also been vocal about the importance of democratic values, framing Trump’s involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack as a significant threat to the nation. By aligning herself with a broad coalition that includes progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney, Harris has taken a definitive stand for a diverse and inclusive America, occasionally embracing critiques that label Trump as a “fascist.”

Harris’s team is confident heading into Election Day, buoyed by a substantial gender gap in early voting and a campaign infrastructure that includes 90,000 volunteers. This weekend alone, Harris’s campaign reported more than 3 million doors knocked across battleground states. Despite these impressive figures, her team continues to approach the race with caution, framing her as the underdog as they work to sway undecided voters.

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Trump, meanwhile, has focused his closing message on economic issues and immigration, promising once more to “Make America Great Again” and putting forth an “America First” agenda. He kicked off Monday with a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, before returning to Pennsylvania for stops in Reading and Pittsburgh, and will wrap up his campaign with a late-night event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His itinerary mirrors his 2016 and 2020 campaign endings, highlighting his emphasis on regions that previously fueled his electoral success.

Throughout his campaign, Trump has promised to restore an economic “golden age,” step in on international conflicts, and secure the U.S. border, contrasting himself with Harris and Biden. However, Trump’s speeches often stray into grievances, with frequent references to his prosecution over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as repeated allegations of election fraud. He has criticized the country’s direction, describing it as a “failed nation” under current leadership and attributing societal issues to the Democratic Party.

Trump has also revived rhetoric targeting the media and other critics, recently musing about violence against journalists and insisting that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House in 2021. These statements have, at times, overshadowed his core message, but he remains steadfast in his call for change, encapsulated by his mantra, “Kamala broke it. I will fix it.”

The former president’s campaign is optimistic about an election win, citing his appeal among younger and working-class voters. Trump’s team is banking on his populist approach to attract a more diverse voter base, despite erosion in support among college-educated voters who are increasingly aligning with the Democratic Party.

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This election’s outcome is likely to hinge on results from seven critical states. Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020, are crucial targets for both campaigns. Trump’s team is also eyeing North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, which round out the Sun Belt battleground states. Trump’s electoral history in these states has been mixed: he won North Carolina twice and Arizona and Georgia in 2016 but saw all three slip to the Democrats in 2020.

Both campaigns are poised for a hard-fought finale in these battlegrounds, with Harris betting on strong support from women and younger voters, while Trump seeks to harness populist energy to secure the White House once more.