Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney will appear with Harris at the Wisconsin rally

MADISON, Wis. – Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, will appear alongside Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Wisconsin on Thursday evening as the vice president tries to win over disaffected Republicans in the key battleground state.

Cheney is among a handful of prominent Republicans who have pledged to support Harris' bid, but as the daughter of a former Republican vice president and one of former President Donald Trump's harshest critics within the party, Harris is hoping to rely on her support for influence in key states like Wisconsin, whose margins are expected to be razor-thin.

According to the state polling average of 538, Harris leads Trump by about two percentage points in Wisconsin.

The location of Thursday's event is symbolic: The campaign is taking place in the central Wisconsin town of Ripon, where an 1854 meeting at a local schoolhouse helped found the Republican Party.

Early Thursday, the campaign announced that more than 20 Republicans in Wisconsin, including current and former officials, are endorsing Harris.

“We, the undersigned, are Republicans from across Wisconsin who deliver the same message: Donald Trump does not align with Wisconsin values. To ensure our democracy and our economy remain strong for another four years, we must elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House,” the group wrote in a letter.

“We have many policy differences with Vice President Harris. But what we agree on is more important,” they wrote.

The vice president will deliver a similar message on Thursday, according to a senior campaign official.

“In her remarks, Harris aims to point out that while Republicans may not agree with her on all issues, she promises to uphold the Constitution, America's founding principles and the rule of law,” the official said.

Harris will also praise Cheney “for her patriotism, character and courage to put country above party,” the official added.

The implications for Harris turning to Republicans could be significant in Wisconsin, Joe Zepecki, a Milwaukee-based Democratic strategist, told ABC News.

“The more Republicans she gets and the more Republicans she gets to just leave a ballot blank when they might otherwise vote for Donald Trump, that makes the bill virtually impossible for Republicans,” Zepecki said.

Cheney endorsed Harris last month in a post on I voted for Donald Trump, but I will vote for Kamala Harris.

The appearance Thursday by Cheney, who served as vice chairman of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, came just a day after special counsel Jack released a 165-page file Smith In it, he revealed new evidence of Trump's efforts in the weeks after the 2020 election to overturn the results.