Lancaster County voters should expect to see a lot of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Election Day approaches.
Walz will be a “key messenger” for Democrats in Pennsylvania’s rural counties as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, according to a Wednesday memo sent to reporters by Dan Kanninen, the battleground states director for the Harris-Walz ticket.
Kanninen said the campaign will target Lancaster, Cumberland, York and Union counties “to make inroads in historically safe Republican areas” of Pennsylvania.
“Our campaign will continue to go everywhere, and Governor Walz will be a key messenger in these rural areas where we’re focused on limiting Republicans’ margins,” Kanninen said.
Recent presidential elections’ narrow margins in Pennsylvania have pressured both campaigns to close vote gaps wherever possible.
Lancaster hasn’t swung for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and more than half its voter base is registered Republican. In 2020, Trump won the county by about 16% of the vote.
Kanninen’s memo is just the latest pledge from Democrats saying they want to damage the Republican lead in counties like Lancaster this year.
Harris’ campaign operates a branch office in downtown Lancaster city, though it began as a Biden campaign office. Also, former Lancaster County GOP chair Ann Womble was announced earlier this week as co-chair of the Republicans for Harris initiative in Pennsylvania.
Many Lancaster Democrats said Walz would help pick up votes for Harris, who took over the Democrats’ ticket after Biden dropped out of the race last month.
Tom O’Brien, chair of the county Democratic Party, said Walz’s “regular guy” personality and hobbies – specifically hunting and fishing – will make it easier for Democrats to make their pitch to Lancaster’s independent voters.
“He’s a down-to-earth guy,” O’Brien said, noting Walz’s summers spent on his family’s farm. “We don’t want to leave any vote behind.”
O’Brien said he has not been told whether Walz would visit Lancaster County in the coming months.
Democrats have leaned into what many social media users and political pundits have called Walz’s “Midwestern dad” energy. Kanninen’s memo, for example, stressed Walz’s past as a football coach, a high school teacher and a National Guard veteran.
The Harris-Walz campaign began accepting preorders for camouflage hats with his and Harris’ names embroidered in bright yellow font, playing on Walz’s signature style. Rolling Stone reported the hat sold out within 30 minutes of being listed online.
Local Republican Party officials remain skeptical of Walz, piling on to national GOP attacks that he’s too left-leaning to appeal to moderate voters.
“Putting on a camo hat won’t make rural voters agree with the rioting, looting and the disastrous leadership of Walz,” Radanovic said, referring to Walz’s handling of his state’s Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
On Tuesday, after Harris announced Walz would be her running mate, Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes issued a statement saying Walz would be a “rubberstamp” for many of Harris’ policy stances.
Harris and Walz have scheduled events this week in several battleground states, including Wisconsin and Michigan. They kicked off that trip Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Kanninen’s memo highlighted some inroads the campaign wants to make among Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan voters, focusing on labor union workers.
“In the Blue Wall, you can’t win without the support of union workers – and organized labor is firmly behind Harris-Walz,” he said.
His memo lists several organizations that have backed Harris and Walz, including national United Steelworkers in Pittsburgh and the Building Trades in Philadelphia.
