Biden headed to Pennsylvania on Labor Day

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press

President Joe Biden plans to travel to the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Labor Day, about two months before the election.

Biden will speak at Milwaukee’s Laborfest celebration and will go to Pittsburgh where other national labor leaders are appearing at that city’s Labor Day Parade, both the White House and labor unions said Monday. Biden plans to “celebrate Labor Day and the dignity of American workers,” according to the White House.

Biden is expected to tout the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act, which the president signed in August.

Both states have races for governor and U.S. Senate.

In Wisconsin, Democrats are trying to reelect Gov. Tony Evers and oust Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. His Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, has highlighted his middle-class background and parents’ union membership. Evers faces Republican Tim Michels, who co-owns the state’s largest construction firm.

Evers, following a tour of a Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, guitar store, said he welcomed Biden to the state.

“We have a good relationship,” Evers said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Barnes also planned to participate in Labor Day events in Milwaukee, but his campaign spokeswoman did not say whether Barnes would join with Biden.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairperson Paul Farrow said the president was coming to “shore up the failing campaigns” of Barnes and Evers.

“Wisconsin voters are already rejecting the failed policies of Democrats and Wisconsinites are eager for change in November,” Farrow said,

Biden last came to Wisconsin in March and his stop in Milwaukee would be his fourth since his term began.

In Pennsylvania, Democrats are trying to hold on to the state’s open governor’s office and to flip the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

The AFL-CIO has endorsed the Democrats in both races: state Attorney General Josh Shapiro running for governor against state Sen. Doug Mastriano and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman running for Senate against heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz.

The AFL-CIO also has endorsed Evers and Barnes in the Wisconsin races.

Fetterman and Shapiro both planned to join Biden next week in Pittsburgh. Biden was also going to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday to discuss an initiative designed to reduce gun crimes.