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Vice President Kamala Harris is preparing to kick off a month-long series of high-profile events mobilizing key voting groups, with an itinerary outlining the role she’ll play for the Democratic ticket in 2024.
On Sunday in Chicago, Harris will headline the annual convention of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a civil rights group founded by Rev. Jesse Jackson. She’ll travel to Indianapolis later next week to address Delta Sigma Theta’s conference, connecting Harris — an Alpha Kappa Alpha member — with another of the “Divine Nine” historically Black sororities.
In subsequent weeks, Harris will also address conferences of Unidos US, a major Hispanic advocacy group, in Chicago; the NAACP in Boston; the Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Orlando; and Everytown for Gun Safety in Chicago.
Each of the stops are considered part of her official White House portfolio, highlighting work she’s done in the administration “on pivotal issues that directly impact the wellbeing of the American people,” the White House says. But each also plays into the Biden re-election effort’s strategy to use the relatively early period of the 2024 election cycle to focus on energizing key pillars of the Democratic Party.
“This travel reflects hitting on some of the most important issues Americans care about right now, and hitting some of the most important constituencies to the Biden-Harris coalition, from young people to Latinos,” a Biden adviser told NBC News. “Having the vice president at these high-profile events early on in the cycle is a sign of her galvanizing power and will help us mobilize these groups next year.”
Last month, President Joe Biden headlined a political rally hosted by major labor unions who endorsed him, also speaking at a dinner for a major environmental group as it and others publicly backed his re-election. Biden and Harris then appeared together at a rally ahead of the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, as reproductive rights groups endorsed the ticket.
The itinerary is reminiscent of Harris’ similar schedule with key groups ahead of the midterm elections a year ago, part of a strategy with the president that sought to capitalize on the Dobbs decision and Republican-led efforts to change election laws. The Democratic Party defied traditional midterm trends, limiting losses in the House and expanding their Senate majority and control of governorships.
Now, Harris appears to be building on that approach in the wake of additional Supreme Court decisions affecting African American students, young voters and the LGBTQ community. She recently visited the Stonewall bar in New York as part of her commemoration of Pride Month, among other stops focused on gun safety and climate change.
Harris’ travel comes as the GOP presidential nominating fight is ramping up, with a major Iowa Republican Party dinner later this month and the traditional campaign blitz around the Iowa State Fair in August.
