By SCOTT BAUER

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former president donald trump will host mourning rallies seven miles apart Friday night in the Milwaukee area as part of a final push for votes in Wisconsin’s largest county, the swing state.

Milwaukee is home to the most Democratic. votes in wisconsinBut its conservative suburbs are where most Republicans live and are a critical area for Trump as he tries to win back the state he narrowly won in 2016 and lost in 2020. One reason for his loss was a drop in support in those Milwaukee suburbs and an increase in Democratic votes in the city.

“Both candidates recognize that the path to the White House runs directly through Milwaukee County,” said Hilario Deleon, chairman of the county Republican Party.

The dueling rallies (Trump is in downtown Milwaukee and Harris is in a suburb) may be the candidates’ last appearances in the Wisconsin battleground before. Election day. Both sides say the race for the state’s 10 electoral votes is once again very close. Four of the last six presidential elections in Wisconsin were decided by less than one point, or fewer than 23,000 votes.

Was Milwaukee absentee voteswhich are typically reported early in the morning after Election Day, which tipped Wisconsin for the presidency joe biden in 2020.

Democrats know they must turn out voters in Milwaukee, also home to the state’s largest black population, to counter Trump’s support in the suburbs and rural areas. Harris hopes to replicate and surpass 2020 turnout in the city, which voted 79% for Biden that year.

Trump is trying to reduce the Democrats’ margin. Deleon called it a “lose for less” mentality.

Many Democrats are “anxious and cautiously optimistic,” said Angela Lang, founder and executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities in Milwaukee.

“Especially given 2016, when there wasn’t the same amount of energy, I think it’s clear that Democrats learned lessons about the importance of Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a whole,” he said.

In another late outreach effort aimed at black voters, former President Bill Clinton campaigned with local faith leaders Thursday night at a center celebrating African-American music and arts in Milwaukee.