CHICAGO (WLS) — It’s the final countdown before Tuesday’s closely watched midterm election, and President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are hitting the campaign trail in Illinois this weekend, one last time before the crucial vote.
Harris is in town Sunday, attending two Chicago rallies.
Her visit immediately follows the president’s two-day stump for Illinois Democrats.
Candidates for Governor also made a flurry of last-minute stops at rallies as they focus on getting out the vote.
Darren Bailey held events near Rockford and in Chicago.
2022 ELECTION | Voter Information in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin
Vice President Kamala Harris is also in Chicago Sunday for a pair of stops, including at a rally with Governor JB Pritzker.
With the election just two days away, the focus now for Democrats and Republicans is to motivate their supporters to get to the polls.
Bailey is hoping to pull off a surprise upset while Pritzker rallies with Democrats and gets some last minute help from Vice President Kamala Harris.
Democrats gathered at a South Side tennis facility in hopes that Vice President Harris can be the ace in the pocket to serve up an Election Day victory for Democrats up and down the ballot.
The goal is to lay out the issues and get people to vote.
“We are two days out from an election — two days out and we’ve got some serious business to do,” VP Harris said. “The lieutenant governor talked about it, the governor talked about it. Everything is on the line, there’s so much at stake.”
“I wish JB Pritzker would do something to help struggling Illinoisans,” Bailey said in his push to voters.
Bailey hosting a pair of rallies. Earlier in afternoon he gathered with a group of supporters in Roscoe, north of Rockford, before heading to Chicago for a second rally. He is hoping his grassroots campaign will help him defy the polls.
Earlier in the day the vice president met with Senator Tammy Duckworth and other leaders from the Asian American community. Harris said Democrats are prepared to fight for democracy and a woman’s right to choose.
Governor Pritzker and other democrats raised concerns about voting rights, civil rights and workers’ rights, as well as where Illinois would be headed if Bailey gets elected.
“It’s never been more important to get out to vote because Donald Trump’s puppet wants to take us back,” Gov. Pritzker said.
Joliet was Biden’s last stop in Illinois Saturday the president continued his final push for Illinois candidates ahead of Tuesday’s election.
ILLINOIS GENERAL ELECTION | Meet the candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, Congress
ABC7 Chicago Political Analyst Laura Washington said these visits are meant to deliver the message that this is not a typical mid-term election.
“They believe the race is tightening on both sides,” Washington said. “They want to get their heavy hitters out. They want to make sure they boost turnout in the last days of the campaign.”
Interestingly, neither Biden nor Harris, who have low approval ratings, were invited by candidates. The visits instead have been driven by the White House.
“The White House wants to pitch in areas where they do have a positive impact and I do think the sixth is one of those areas, because every seat’s going to matter,” said Alvin Tillery, political science professor at Northwestern University.
In a statement, the Illinois Republican Party said, “With historic inflation levels fueling rising gas and grocery costs, Democrats in toss-up seats across the country don’t want to campaign with President Biden. Forced to defend once reliably safe Democrat seats in the Chicago suburbs, he will see voters’ frustrations with his spending agenda firsthand.”
But with so many people having cast ballots already, and with most people having already made up their minds by this point, the focus for both sides is on getting out the vote.
For Bailey and Pritzker, it’s now a sprint to the finish over the next 48 hours.
