For a brief moment this week , the fierce competition for swing voters in swing-state Wisconsin converged on the tarmac of the tiny Chippewa Valley Regional Airport.
Minutes after Vice President Kamala Harris landed with her newly minted running mate Tim Walz for their first campaign stop in the state, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance arrived. He walked across the tarmac to check out Air Force Two, just missing Harris.
The close encounter of the political kind could be written off as a coincidence if it happened anywhere other than Wisconsin, one of a small number of states that will not only determine the winner of the presidential race but could also shape the balance of power in Congress. But it sent a much louder signal that both parties understand the importance of a region that could tip the balance of power in more ways than one.
The western Wisconsin congressional district where Harris, Walz and Vance all campaigned Wednesday is one Democrats hope to flip this year as they look to cut into the narrow GOP majority in the House. It's also crucial to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin's reelection bid, a must-have for Democrats if they are to hold onto the Senate.
The small airport in Eau Claire in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District is far from the Democratic urban strongholds to the east and the deep-red rural swaths of northern Wisconsin. But the area is essential for both Harris and former President Donald Trump in one of the "blue wall" states , along with Pennsylvania and neighboring Michigan, that both parties say they need to win to secure the White House.
