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Jill Biden will campaign for Harris-Walz ticket in the Philadelphia suburbs next week

The first lady's visit to the Philly suburbs next week will mark her first time campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in Pennsylvania.

First lady Jill Biden.
First lady Jill Biden.Read moreSusan Walsh / AP

First lady Jill Biden will be campaigning in the Philadelphia suburbs next week, marking the first time she has hit the Pennsylvania campaign trail for Vice President Kamala Harris since she replaced her husband, President Joe Biden, at the top of the ticket.

Biden, who grew up in Willow Grove and has championed her “Philly Girl” status, will be visiting the Philly collar counties on Oct. 15 to close out her tour of key battleground states. The Harris-Walz campaign did not provide details on the locations she will visit.

The first lady is scheduled to visit Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, and Wisconsin in the days prior.

The first lady’s visit comes just three weeks out from Election Day where all eyes will be on Pennsylvania, a swing state that will likely determine the outcome of the election.

While Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties all swung to Biden in the 2020 election, Bucks has a strong pro-Trump constituency and over the summer Republican voter registration surpassed that of Democrats there. For both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the purple county is crucial to the path to the White House. And both campaign’s recent visits underscore the importance of the area.

Late last month, Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance held a rally in Newtown, marking the Trump campaign’s first rally in the suburbs. And the day after, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) visited Bensalem to rally Harris volunteers.

In neighboring Montgomery County, Gov. Josh Shapiro and producer Shonda Rhimes also held an event at the end of September.

Statewide, the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump remains close, but recent polling shows Harris with a 24-point lead in Philadelphia and its suburbs combined, though she has yet to reach President Joe Biden’s 2020 numbers in the area.

This story has been updated to clarify first lady Jill Biden’s travel schedule.