Whitmer, Shapiro, Evers to launch battleground bus tour promoting Harris

AMBLER, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 29: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer applauds as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris on July 29, 2024 in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Shapiro and Whitmer campaigned to bring supporters behind Vice President Harris's campaign to protect Americans' freedoms, lower costs for families, and slam Trump's Project 2025 agenda. (Photo by Hannah Beier/Getty Images)

By Julia Manchester

The Democratic governors of the “blue wall” states launched a bus tour Friday aimed at ginning up support for Vice President Harris in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

The Driving Forward blue wall bus tour is set to kick off in partnership with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and her Fight Like Hell PAC, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D).

“There’s only one ticket in this race with an economic plan that puts middle class families first: Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz,” Whitmer said in a statement. “And I’m hitting the road with my friends Tony Evers, Josh Shapiro, and others to make sure every midwestern voter hears it.”

The tour will start Monday in Wisconsin and feature vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). It will continue through Michigan and feature Whitmer and Shapiro before concluding in Pennsylvania.

The effort is the latest from Harris’s allies to boost her in the region. On Thursday, former President Obama campaigned for Harris in Pittsburgh in an effort to drum up enthusiasm for her.

The bus tour comes as recent polling shows Harris and former President Trump deadlocked in swing states, including the blue wall. An Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey released Thursday showed Trump and Harris tied in Michigan and Wisconsin, with the former president leading in Pennsylvania by 1 percentage point.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average shows Harris leading in Pennsylvania by 0.7 percentage points, and in Wisconsin by 0.1 percentage points. In Michigan, Trump leads by 0.6 percentage points.