Harris campaign targets red, rural counties as it tries to narrow Trump’s margins

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is targeting red and rural counties in the final sprint to Election Day, according to campaign aides, with her appearance in Ripon, Wisconsin, on Thursday just part of a strategy to compete everywhere and narrow Donald Trump’s margins in those counties.

“We got to turn out folks, obviously, in base Democratic areas, but we also need to persuade a lot of people,” Harris campaign battleground states director Dan Kanninen told CNN. “Shaving margins where you can, in counties that maybe Trump won 70-30, but if we can lose them 60-40 or 65-35, that makes a big difference over dozens of counties in a state.”

Part of the campaign’s organizing on the ground includes having a greater presence in counties where there may be fewer Democrats and more disaffected Republican voters.

In the coming days, the campaign plans to host events meant to appeal to voters disenchanted with Trump, including in the critical states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Harris campaign officials have frequently touted Republican endorsements and support, including this week, when the vice president appeared with former Rep. Liz Cheney, marking their first joint appearance since the Wyoming Republican announced she’d vote for Harris.

But where they chose to appear together perhaps carried more weight — Ripon, the birthplace of the Republican Party. Fond du Lac County, which includes Ripon, voted for Trump in 2020, 62%-36%.

Harris campaign officials are banking that their campaign infrastructure – including multiple field offices, along with campaign stops by the vice president and running mate Tim Walz, among others – can help close the gap between her and Trump, especially in battleground states.

“We have 16 offices in counties that Trump won by double digits because we’re not taking any place for granted,” Brendan McPhillips, Harris campaign senior adviser for Pennsylvania, told CNN.

“If you win five votes, five extra votes in a county that Trump won by double digits, it’s the same as the five votes you win in Philadelphia,” he added. “But you have to go everywhere to get them, and it matters to people that you show up to their community and you engage in an honest conversation and a back and forth.”

That includes areas like Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a 20% showing in the Republican primary despite no longer being in the 2024 race and where strategists argue the Harris campaign can potentially pick up Republican voters who are uninterested in Trump.

Harris may not be able to appeal to all Haley voters, but capitalizing on the doubt that might exist over Trump in some of these counties and getting even a slice of those votes could be significant to narrow the margins, according to Sam Chen, a Republican strategist.

“This is a smart move, but it’s a risky move if they don’t like you and if it accidentally drives them to Trump,” Chen said. “This is where you have to know your message.”

Walz, who has previously campaigned in Lancaster County, launched on a bus tour of central Pennsylvania after the vice presidential debate this week. Similarly, last month, Harris returned to two counties — Cambria and Luzerne — that Trump won by double digits in 2020.

Democratic strategists have also cited Walz’s upbringing in rural America, military background and his days as a football coach as especially relatable in rural parts of the country.

The campaign is also running ads targeting rural battleground voters, including one featuring lifelong Republicans who said they previously voted for Trump but have chosen to cast their ballot for Harris and another featuring a farmer in Wisconsin talking about health care.

Harris aides point to previous Democratic campaigns as proof points of the strategy working, including Sen. John Fetterman’s 2022 race in Pennsylvania and Sen. Raphael Warnock’s runoff in Georgia.

In late August, Harris did a swing through southeast Georgia, a region that typically leans Republican but where Warnock had success.

At the time, Harris deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks, who managed Warnock’s campaign, argued that Harris, like Warnock, has an advantage in appealing to broader groups of voters, including those in the rural areas, heading into November, with Trump as her opponent and anticipated higher turnout in a presidential election year.