Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, September 29, 2024.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Harris campaign officials are planning a series of stops at small businesses in at least six battleground states this week, according to a preview of the announcement first obtained by CNBC on Tuesday.
Harris will not be attending these special events herself. The campaign said “elected officials” and “community leaders” would take her place, but did not provide details about the alternates.
The campaign tour, called “Small Business for Harris-Walz,” is being touted in part as an appeal to Black and Latino communities, key voter groups that were crucial to Democrats' 2020 victory but are gradually slipping in favor of Republican nominee Donald Trump this election cycle.
Trump has worked to capitalize on this dynamic.
“If you’re Black or Hispanic, thank you very much, vote for Trump. They will be in good shape,” he said at a rally in Georgia last Tuesday.
This week's small business tour is the Harris campaign's latest attempt to blunt Trump's election victories.
President Joe Biden pursued a similar plan when he was expected to be the Democratic presidential nominee before dropping out of the race in July.
In December, for example, he touted the gains in Black and Latino-owned small businesses under his administration to highlight his efforts to close the racial wealth gap and win back voters who were nostalgic for the pre-pandemic economy that Trump oversaw .
Harris is adopting this argument for her own campaign, trying to create a similar contrast with her Republican opponent.
“Vice President Harris has proven that she will stand up for small business,” Richard Garcia, director of small business engagement for the Harris campaign, wrote in a statement Tuesday. “Unlike Donald Trump, who only fights for himself.”
Next week, the Harris campaign will expand this pitch specifically to small businesses in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Various organizational events, volunteer training and house parties are planned as part of the campaign.
So far, Harris has proposed giving small businesses a $50,000 tax deduction for their startup costs, a tenfold increase from the current $5,000 deduction. She also imposed a 28% tax on long-term capital gains, a lower rate than Biden's 40% tax proposal, to reward “investment in America's innovators, founders and small businesses.”
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