(NewsNation) — Vice President Kamala Harris continues to lead over former President Donald Trump in several key swing states, according to the latest polling averages from NewsNation partners at The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.
Harris’ most significant lead over Trump in a swing state — 3.4 percentage points in Wisconsin — has influenced the former president’s team to return to the basics of election campaigning: setting up booths at state fairs, knocking on doors and even cold-calling registered voters.
In Wisconsin, four of the last six presidential races have been decided by a margin of less than 1 percentage point. In 2020, President Joe Biden won the Badger State by just 20,000 votes.
Only about two-thirds of Americans voted in the last presidential election, so getting more people out to vote could be the deciding factor in the 2024 election.
GOP back to campaigning basics
Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Brian Schimming said it’s all about targeting undecided independent and first-time voters. He explained that if Trump can swing a few percentage points, not just in the battleground areas but also in Democratic strongholds, it might be enough to turn the tide for the Republican Party.
“They think like us, they act like us. They believe like us. They live like us, but they don’t vote. There are hundreds of thousands of them out in this state,” Schimming said. “(If) we go get to those people … we’re going to win Wisconsin.”
The GOP has been investing heavily in Wisconsin, one of the few battleground states where Trump has more field offices set up for his campaign than the Harris campaign.
While the Trump campaign hopes to win over Wisconsin voters, the Harris campaign has been working to maintain the vice president’s lead in the state.
Harris-Walz campaign aims to hold lead
The Wisconsin Democratic Party confirmed to NewsNation that it has 48 field offices in the state. The Harris-Walz campaign has over 170 staffers on the ground and an additional 80 from the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
The Harris-Walz campaign is also partnering with the University of Wisconsin’s Democrats to get the word out, talking to students about what’s important to them.
The youth organizing director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party confirmed that the economy, climate change and reproductive rights are the top issues that matter most to college students.
On campus, a group called the Wisco Project was handing out stickers and condoms that said, “Protect yourself from Republicans.”
The campaign is also using Generation Z social media memes, trying to get students to register to vote.
Democrats have also turned to a progressive mobile app called Reach. The app allows campaigns to reach voters electronically and organize campaign events in areas where the voters are located.
The app is packed with Harris-Walz campaign information, and the technology makes it easy for voters to share content with friends and family via text.
