Kamala and Tim Walz campaign in key states on Wednesday (7)

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will campaign alongside her new running mate Tim Walz on Wednesday (7), holding events in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan that will offer an early test of her performance in the Midwest.

The trip to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Detroit, Michigan, is the first campaign trip for Walz, governor of neighboring Minnesota, whom Harris chose as her vice presidential candidate on Tuesday (5) in the biggest political decision of her White House bid that has energized Democrats and shaken up the race.

The selection of Walz, an Army National Guard veteran and former teacher, adds geographic balance to a ticket led by a Californian that needs a strong showing in the Midwest to win the Nov. 5 election.

A former congressman who won election in a Republican-leaning district, Walz has a history of appealing to white, rural voters who over the years have increasingly turned to Donald Trump, this year’s Republican presidential nominee.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump called Walz a “shocking choice” and sought to portray him as a radical progressive. “He’s a smarter version of her,” Trump told the hosts of “Fox & Friends.”

Trump also said he would debate Harris in the “very near future” and that details would be announced soon. He said his preference is for Fox to host the debate.

Last week, Trump proposed a debate with Harris on Fox News on Sept. 4. Harris’ campaign said Trump was trying to back out of a debate that was already scheduled to air on ABC on Sept. 10.

Democrats view Wisconsin and Michigan as near-must-win states in the 2024 election, and the states have been looming for the party since Hillary Clinton’s upset losses helped secure Trump’s victory in 2016.

Biden beat Trump in both states in 2020, but polls showed he faced a tight battle in Michigan before he dropped out of the race last month, with much of the state’s significant Arab and Muslim population angry at his administration’s support for Israel in the Gaza war against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance was also scheduled to speak in Eau Claire on Wednesday.

The Democratic trip is expected to include more than a half-dozen states that will likely determine the election winner as the campaign seeks to showcase Walz, who is not well-known nationally.

At the pair’s first rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Harris devoted much of her speech to highlighting Walz’s background as a small-town native, high school social studies teacher, football coach and guard.

Walz, a folksy and affable speaker, did not hold back on Trump and Vance, repeating his viral comment that they are “weird” and criticizing them on abortion, crime and the economy.

Harris’s rise to the top of the Democratic ticket two weeks ago has dramatically reshaped the race. Polls show she has erased the lead Trump had built during the final weeks of Biden’s campaign, and a reinvigorated Democratic Party has flooded her campaign with donations.

Harris’ campaign said it raised more than $20 million Tuesday after announcing Walz as its vice presidential pick.

Trump and Vance immediately branded Walz too liberal, doubling down on criticisms they have often leveled at Harris.

“This is the most radical left-wing duo in American history,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

Vance, who spoke to reporters in Philadelphia hours before Walz’s campaign debut, faulted the governor for his handling of protests after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white police officer in 2020.

“The biggest problem with the Tim Walz pick isn’t Tim Walz himself. It’s what it says about Kamala Harris — that when given the opportunity, she will bow to the most radical elements of her party,” Vance said.

Walz, who was first elected governor of Minnesota in 2018, has championed progressive policies including free school meals, measures to combat climate change, tax cuts for the middle class and better paid leave for workers.

Harris had considered several other candidates for her running mate, most notably Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who some Democrats supported given the importance of his home state in the November election.