President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will both make appearances in the Chicago area in coming days to try to shore up Democratic congressional candidates’ election chances in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday confirmed Biden would come to the Chicago area on Friday, among several stops he plans to make across the country to lend support to Democratic congressional candidates in the final days of their campaigns. The Democratic Party of Illinois announced in a statement that Harris would campaign in Illinois on Sunday.
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The appearances by Biden and Harris come as races for some seats in Congress are tightening in the final days before Election Day, Nov. 8. Several Chicago-area congressional fights are down to the wire and drawing national attention as Democrats try to keep control of the House of Representatives and Republicans hope for a midterm surge to give them control of Congress.
Most notably, in the majority suburban 6th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove is facing off against Republican Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau as Casten tries to secure a third term in office.
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In a sign of how close the contest for the district — which includes Southwest Side neighborhoods and several southwest and west suburbs — has become, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California came to Downers Grove two weeks ago to bolster Casten, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California will be in Oak Brook on Friday night to stump for Pekau.
In addition, in the 11th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster faces Republican challenger Catalina Lauf in a district that stretches from Lemont, through the west suburbs to far northwest suburban Woodstock.
“The American public has a choice,” Jean-Pierre said during a White House briefing. “And that choice is very clear: Do you want congressional Democrats and a president that’s working every day to deliver for the American people, or do you want congressional Republicans who are doing the complete opposite, who want to increase energy costs, who want to increase your health care premiums?
“And we feel that there are many places where he can have that conversation. There are many places where it’s going to be important for the American people to hear directly from the president of the United States.”
Illinois Democrats offered few details about Harris’ visit other than to say the vice president will rally with Illinois Democrats on Sunday.
“As we enter the home stretch, Illinois Democrats are working hard to make sure every voter knows what is at stake in this election,” state party Chairwoman Lisa Hernandez said.
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