WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris hits Chicago three times in the coming weeks — with the visits aimed at galvanizing Democratic constituencies vital to the re-election of President Joe Biden and the vice president.
Harris will be in Chicago to speak to three national groups who are holding gatherings in Chicago — with the appearances considered official government business — even as it helps the Biden/Harris ticket.
She will also, on the purely political side, headline a fundraiser to benefit the Biden/Harris re-election bid and the Democratic National Committee.
The Chicago stops are part of her July and August blitz that will also take her to Florida, Massachusetts and Indiana, to speak to groups — especially aimed at Black and Hispanic voters the Democrats are wooing.
The upcoming Harris Chicago visits are — as is most of her travel at this point — aimed at throwing a spotlight on Biden/Harris administration achievements.
President Joe Biden delivers a speech touting his administration’s economic achievements at The Old Post Office in the Loop on June 28.
Owen Ziliak/Sun-Times
Biden branded this in a June 28 speech at the Old Post Office in the Loop as Bidenomics.
Harris will increasingly focus on four issues as she ramps up her travel 13 months before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Biden and Harris will be nominated for second terms.
According to a source close to Harris, her government and campaign portfolio heading into the campaign rests mainly on four legs — the battle to preserve remaining reproductive rights; gun safety; voting rights; and small business development.
Harris, the daughter of a mother from India and a father from Jamaica, is the first female, first Black American and the first South Asian American to be vice president.
In Chicago:
- On Sunday, Harris will keynote the Rainbow Push Coalition Annual Convention, with the group founded by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Jackson ran in the Democratic primary for president in 1984 and 1988, harnessing the power of the Black and white liberal vote.
A tribute is planned at the convention to mark the 35th anniversary of Jackson’s 1988 presidential bid.
- On July 24, Harris will be the top speaker at the UnidosUS’ 2023 Annual Conference at McCormick Place. The group is the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights group and was formerly known as the National Council of La Raza.
The group said in a statement that Harris “will focus on the economic power of the Hispanic community and how the Biden-Harris administration is helping to move the country forward on the path to greater equity.”
Voting rights are expected to be a subject of great interest at the Rainbow Push and UnidosUS conventions.
- Harris on the same day will also be the draw at a fundraiser at the Gold Coast home of Desiree Rogers, who is the main organizer of the fundraiser.
Proceeds from the funder will go to the Biden Action Fund, which benefits the Biden/Harris reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The goal is to raise $250,000.
Rogers, the chief executive and co-owner of Fashion Fair and Black Opal, the makeup and skin care company, is a close Harris friend who was an early supporter of the then-California senator when she ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison is expected to attend the reception.
- Harris returns to Chicago on Aug. 11 for an address before Everytown for Gun Safety’s “Gun Sense University 2023.”
Everytown is the nation’s largest organization combating gun violence. The group is bringing together activists with Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action at their annual meeting.
The Biden White House has been touting Biden’s signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on June 25, 2022 — the first gun control measure in almost three decades — and various executive orders aimed at reducing gun violence as Republicans decline to join Democrats in passing other gun safety measures.
Harris in her upcoming visits will likely make an unannounced stop highlighting small business — something she often does when she is on the road. In April 2022, Harris, to boost Black female-owned businesses, bought desserts at the Brown Sugar Bakery, 328 E. 75th on her way back to Midway Airport after she toured a COVID-19 vaccination center.
Harris was last in Chicago in January, speaking near the 95th Street Bridge over the Calumet River to tout one of Biden’s signature pieces of legislation — a pillar of Bidenomics— the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to local governments in Illinois for roads, bridges, airports and other projects.
The White House said in a statement that Harris in her travels “will continue her leadership while ensuring communities and constituencies not only have their voices heard but that they have a seat at the table in the Biden-Harris administration.”
