Vice President Mike Pence, Democratic VP Candidate Kamala Harris Visit Wisconsin
CHICAGO (CBS) --There were two vice-presidential candidates in Wisconsin in one day and that can only mean one thing.
The campaigns believe the state is more important than ever when it comes to winning in November.
CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov has more on what Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris had for voters to the north.
Vice President Mike Pence gave a lunchtime speech in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Democratic VP candidate, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris spent the afternoon in Milwaukee.
Both visits come a week after their presidential running mates visited Kenosha, Wisconsin in the aftermath of looting, protests and the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Less than two weeks after Wisconsin Lutheran College canceled a graduation speech by Vice President Pence, he swung through the swing state anyway. The Vice President spoke to a group at Dairyland Power Cooperative in Lacrosse, touting President Donald Trump's pre-coronavirus jobs record, stressing his commitment to fighting the virus and promising a vaccine by the end of the year.
"At the president's direction, we're manufacturing vaccines even as we speak. So the moment the FDA says we have a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, we'll have tens of millions of doses available for American people," Pence said.
But Vice President Pence didn't discuss criticism the Trump administration mishandled the pandemic response. He also didn't directly mention the police shooting of Jacob Blake and skimmed over last month's demonstrations in Kenosha, talking law and order instead.
He also gave the president credit for restoring calm there, even though Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers activated the National Guard a day before Mr. Trump called for their help.
"We sent 200 law enforcement officers to Kenosha, working with the National Guard and law enforcement, we quelled the violence," Pence said.
Democratic challenger U.S. Senator Kamala Harris arrived in the swing state near the end of Pence's visit, meeting privately with Jacob Blake and his family before touring a union training facility and meeting with Black business owners in Milwaukee. Harris described her meeting with Blake's family.
"Really wonderful. They're an incredible family with what they endured with such dignity and grace," Harris said. "And they're carrying a lot of voices on their shoulders.
Both La Crosse and Milwaukee counties voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, even though Wisconsin went to trump by just 1% of the vote.
So each Wisconsin county will very likely prove to be critical for the candidates come November.