The latest: Trump to hold rally in North Carolina; Harris campaign launches $90 million ad buy

Donald Trump will hold a rally and speech in North Carolina on Wednesday, where his campaign is billed as a major economic address. Set in a Democratic city surrounded by consistently Republican mountain counties, the event has both national and local implications for the former president.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is launching a $90 million advertising effort over the next three weeks to introduce the Democrat to voters and contrast her with Trump. The media buy marks her campaign’s biggest investment yet in voter messaging with just 2 1/2 months until Election Day in November.

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Here are the latest:

Voter turnout in Tuesday’s Wisconsin election was the highest in 60 years for a partisan presidential primary year, with more than 26 percent of the state’s voting-age population voting, according to unofficial results.

The election was marred by voters rejecting two constitutional amendments that sought to limit the governor’s power to spend money and decide a pair of hotly contested congressional primaries. The election was also the first under the newly drawn legislative maps, creating dozens of competitive races in addition to other hotly contested contests for local office.

The city of Madison, a Democratic stronghold, had a 45 percent turnout — the highest for a partisan fall turnout in at least 40 years, the furthest the clerk’s office has records.

A proposed New York constitutional amendment designed to protect access to abortion is a key part of Democrats’ plans to boost voter turnout in the state this fall and potentially flip vital congressional districts.

But there might be a problem: The ballot question doesn’t mention the word “abortion.”

Arguments began Wednesday in connection with a lawsuit. Democrats hope to force election officials to include the term in an explanation of the amendment that voters will see when they cast their ballots.

The unusual legal effort comes weeks after the state Board of Elections chose late last month to use the measure’s technical language instead of interpreting it in its explanation to voters.

The Democratic National Committee will offer a schedule of trainings, panels and other programs it calls “DemPalooza” during the party’s convention in Chicago next week. The name is a play on the Lollapalooza music festival that Chicago hosts each year.

The DNC said Wednesday that “DemPalooza” events will be held daily at McCormick Place. The convention itself will be held at the United Center.

“DemPalooza” events will range from training on how to use organizing tools to survey briefings and skills workshops. The DNC says these programs are part of its and the Harris campaign’s efforts to organize and reach voters in an evolving media environment and provide opportunities for Democrats to take what they’ve learned back to the communities that will decide November’s presidential election .

“DemPalooza” will also feature an exhibit with vendor booths and interactive spaces where attendees can make friendship bracelets, get their “Kamala Harris” manicure, listen to podcasts or watch performances by local artists.

Vice President Kamala Harris has a perceived advantage over former President Donald Trump on several leadership qualities, such as honesty, an Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center poll shows, although Americans are slightly more likely to trust Trump on the economy and immigration. .

Nearly half of Americans say “committed to democracy” and “disciplined” are attributes that best describe Harris. About 3 in 10 say these qualities better describe Trump.

About 4 in 10 say Harris is someone who cares about people like you, while about 3 in 10 say that about Trump. About 4 in 10 say “honest” better describes Harris and 24% say quality better describes Trump.

Both parties are scrambling to define Harris as she prepares to accept the Democratic nomination at the party’s convention next week. The poll suggests she carries some of the same baggage that hampered President Joe Biden before he ended his re-election bid, but she has advantages over Trump when compared against each other. And Democrats continue to be much happier with her candidacy than with Biden’s.

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is launching a $90 million advertising effort over the next three weeks to introduce the Democrat to voters and contrast her with Republican Donald Trump.

The media buy marks her campaign’s biggest investment yet in voter messaging with just 2 1/2 months until Election Day in November. It follows a $50 million ad campaign booked last month, shortly after Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the party’s ticket.

Harris’ campaign has been buoyed by a raft of fundraisers since the switch and is now moving to spend the money in an effort to counter the overwhelming spending spree by Trump and his allies in the days after Biden dropped out.

Harris’ team said the ad campaign would focus on the vice president’s personal narrative, her career as a California prosecutor, her commitment to standing up to powerful interests and a contrast to what it called the “dangerous, extreme agenda” of Trump.

Donald Trump will have another opportunity on Wednesday to recalibrate his bid to return to the presidency, this time with a rally and speech in North Carolina that his campaign is making a major economic address.

Set in a Democratic city surrounded by consistently Republican mountain counties, the event has both national and local implications for the former president.

Republicans are looking for Trump to focus his scattered arguments and attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris since Democrats nominated her for the presidency. Twice in the past week, Trump has found such an opportunity, first in an hour-long press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, then in a two-and-a-half-hour conversation on the platform social network X with CEO Elon Musk. .

The latest attempt comes in the state that gave Trump his closest margin of victory statewide four years ago and is expected to be a battleground again in 2024.