Vice President Harris and Liz Cheney want to ensure the battleground state stops at the birthplace of the GOP

CNN
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Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney will campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris in Wisconsin on Thursday, touting her support for the Democratic presidential nominee in the crucial battleground state, a senior campaign official told CNN.

The campaign event is the former Wyoming congresswoman's latest attempt to turn undecided voters away from former President Donald Trump with less than five weeks until Election Day. Cheney, who previously told CNN she was committed to doing what was necessary to prevent Trump from returning to the White House, endorsed Harris last month in North Carolina, another swing state.

“I think it's critically important that people realize that not only what I just said about the danger that Trump represents should deter people from voting for him, but I don't think he should “We have the luxury of writing candidates.” “Names, especially in swing states,” Cheney said during a speech at Duke University in early September. She later said she expected to campaign against Trump in battleground states throughout the fall.

At Thursday's campaign rally in Ripon – home to a schoolhouse known as the birthplace of the Republican Party – Harris will make a direct appeal to Republican and independent voters, according to campaign officials. She is expected to acknowledge Ripon's historical significance and promise them that she will uphold the rule of law and the Constitution even if they disagree with her on political issues.

Cheney's zealous opposition to Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election – including her vote to impeach him – ultimately led to House Republicans ousting her as conference chair and replacing her with a top Trump ally, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, replaced. Cheney subsequently served as vice chairman of the House Select Committee that investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. She ultimately lost her congressional seat in a 2022 primary to a Trump-backed challenger.

Cheney said in September that she had serious policy disagreements with Harris on various issues but decided to support her because she felt that “those of us who believe in defending our democracy, believe in defending our Constitution.” and believe in the survival of… “Our Republic has a duty in this election cycle to come together to put these things above politics.”

Numerous Republicans have supported the vice president in her bid to defeat Trump and urged members of the GOP to cross party lines, including Cheney's father, former Vice President Dick Cheney; former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger; former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan; and former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake.

Cheney has long sought to combat Trump's influence on elections. In the 2022 midterm elections, the political action committee she created placed an ad urging Arizona voters to reject GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem. She also crossed party lines, defeating two moderate Democrats in closely contested House races this year.

The campaign's efforts to win over Republican voters will extend beyond the Cheney incident.

Thursday's campaign stop will be the start of a series of other events in the coming days designed to appeal to voters disillusioned with Trump and mostly concerned about defending the Constitution, according to a Harris campaign official. Additional events will take place in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Harris-Walz is spending a lot of money in this area as part of a seven-figure paid media strategy, the campaign manager said. While Trump's team has former Democrats as surrogates, there is no organized “Democrats for Trump” equivalent.

Republicans for Harris' outreach will also include a new economic-focused ad featuring a direct-to-camera testimonial from a two-time Trump voter about how Trump would make the economy worse for people like him, the campaign manager said. The “Has Our Backs” ad, first shared with CNN, is part of the campaign's $370 million ad reservation between Labor Day and Election Day and will run on digital platforms, including YouTube TV.

“We know we must earn these votes, and we continue to work every day to win over the millions of Republicans who are ready to leave the chaos, extremism and division of Donald Trump behind,” Austin said Weatherford, national Republican outreach director for the Harris-Walz campaign, in a statement.

Not all Democrats think this is the best strategy.

Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, the first Muslim woman elected to the panel, has been particularly vocal on social media about the problems she sees with the Harris team relying on the support of prominent Republicans like Cheney sets.

“It feels like the campaign is still trying to run a Biden campaign and is doing Harris a great disservice,” she posted on X.

“Republicans are not going to save us, and touting their support turns people off,” Romman said.

CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.