Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to be in Johnstown on Friday.
The trip makes two appearances in our coverage area by each presidential candidate in just two weeks.
Our Brock Owens spoke with local Republican and Democratic officials about what they’re seeing and why this area is important down the stretch of the election.
According to a release from the Harris-Walz campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris will be at the Johnstown Airport Friday afternoon.
According to an invitation sent to local union members, her arrival is “invite-only” and will not be open to the public.
Harris’ planned campaign stop in Johnstown comes just two days after making an appearance in Somerset County at the Flight 93 National Memorial.
“I think it just once again shows how important Pennsylvania is, obviously western Pennsylvania. They’re not taking any part of this state for granted. It always plays an important part, but it’s even more important this year because we have so few swing states,” says Nina Licastro, the Cambria County Democratic Committee Chairwoman.
The expected visit by Harris would mark a stop from each presidential candidate in Johnstown in just a two-week span.
“Cambria County represents, I believe, a microcosm of Pennsylvania,”
Officials say candidates at least making an appearance in Cambria or its surrounding counties may be because of the community response.
“We have a way to outreach to a lot of people quickly. Having that ability helps these campaigns create an audience really quickly, and that really does really impress these various candidates,” Kulback added.
They both say, locally, there’s been a focus on voter registration, and say it seems like each candidate is concerned with the middle class.
“The middle class is what built America and if we don’t have a strong middle class then where are we?”