By SCOTT BAUER

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump will host dueling rallies within seven miles of each other Friday night in the Milwaukee area as part of a the final push for votes in Wisconsin’s largest county.

Milwaukee is home to the most Democrats votes in wisconsinbut its conservative suburbs are where most Republicans live and are a critical area for Trump as he tries to recapture the state he won in 2016 and lost in 2020. One of the reasons for his defeat was a drop in support in those suburbs in Milwaukee and an increase in the Democratic vote in the city.

“Both candidates recognize that the road to the White House runs right through Milwaukee County,” said Hilario Deleon, chairman of the county’s Republican Party.

The dueling rallies — Trump in downtown Milwaukee and Harris in a suburb — could be the candidates’ last appearances in the Wisconsin battleground before Election day. Both parties say the race is tight again for the state’s 10 electoral votes. Four of the last six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than one point or less than 23,000 votes.

Era absentee ballots from Milwaukeewhich are usually reported early in the morning after Election Day, which offered Wisconsin for president Joe Biden in 2020.

Democrats know they need to bring voters to Milwaukee, home to the state’s largest black population, to counter Trump’s support in the suburbs and rural areas. Harris hopes to replicate and surpass the 2020 turnout in the city, which voted 79 percent for Biden that year.

Trump is trying to cut into the Democratic margin. Deleon called it a “lose with less” mentality.

Many Democrats are “anxious and cautiously optimistic,” said Angela Lang, founder and executive director of Milwaukee-based Black Leaders Organizing for Communities.

“Especially given 2016, when there wasn’t the same amount of energy, I think it’s clear that the dignitaries learned lessons about the importance of Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a whole,” she said.

In another late-night outreach effort aimed at black voters, former President Bill Clinton campaigned with local faith leaders Thursday night at a center celebrating African-American music and arts in Milwaukee.