Harris Gains Republican Endorsements, Trump Prepares for Long Island Rally, Walz On the Move

James Lalino
By James Lalino
September 15, 20242024 Elections
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Harris Gains Republican Endorsements, Trump Prepares for Long Island Rally, Walz On the Move
(Left) Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waits to speak at a campaign rally in Wayne, Mich., on Aug. 8, 2024. (Right) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a rally in St Cloud, Minn., on July 27, 2024. (Andrew Harnik, Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign announced Sunday that it’s received the endorsement of “more than a dozen Republicans who worked under President Ronald Reagan.”

“We join our friends and colleagues from the George W. Bush White House, his Administration, and his campaigns, and those from the McCain and Romney campaigns in supporting Vice President Harris and Governor Walz,” read the group’s endorsement, which was included in a campaign press release.

“It’s our hope that this letter will signal to other Republicans and former Republicans that supporting the Democratic ticket this year is the only path forward toward an America that is strong and viable for our children and grandchildren for years to come.” Seventeen former Reagan staffers were listed in the press release.

While Harris touts new conservative support, her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, returns to deep blue New York, where his campaign is holding a rally at the Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday, in the heart of Long Island.

“This rally comes at a critical time for Nassau County, which has been suffering under the disastrous liberal policies of Kamala Harris and Democrats like [New York Mayor] Eric Adams,” the Trump campaign said in a press release announcing the event.

Local conservative activists are optimistic that Wednesday’s rally will bring an overflow of supporters to the event. “We’re expecting a sellout,” Kevin Smith, of the Long Island Loud Majority, told NTD News. “We’re expecting 50,000 people for an arena that holds 18,000.”

While Trump faces an uphill battle in his native state, which the Republicans haven’t won since 1984, his appearance in the area appears to be an effort to garner support for his party’s congressional candidates in competitive Long Island races this year.

“His homecoming is always welcomed,” Paul Ingrassia, a campaign surrogate, told NTD News. “Long Island has been called the unofficial ‘epicenter of the MAGA movement.’”

Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, will also be hitting the campaign trail Tuesday in two southern battleground states. Walz will be delivering remarks in Macon and Atlanta, Georgia, before he travels to Asheville, North Carolina, in the afternoon for a rally.

The two states have 16 electoral votes each, and the polling is tight. RealClear’s polling average Saturday has Trump up by 0.1 percentage points in North Carolina. The polling group’s latest Georgia data has Trump up by 0.3 percent.

Georgia begins early voting one month from Sunday. North Carolina, which was scheduled to begin mailing absentee ballots last week, was ordered to delay the process by the state’s highest court, so that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can be removed from the ballot.

Election Day is 50 days away.