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The final stops in the final weeks of a presidential campaign are often reserved for critical battleground states; it is a last-ditch attempt by a candidate to influence voters whose votes will ultimately determine the election. But with less than two weeks until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party has set its sights on an at least partially less friendly region: Texas.

On Tuesday, the Harris-Walz campaign announced that the vice president will travel to Houston on Friday, where Democratic Texas congressman Colin Allred will attend a rally to challenge the Senator. Ted Cruz for his seat. The announcement was supported by a news release on Thursday: Beyonceinternational superstar, He is expected to appear alongside Harris at the event. The Houston native had previously given the campaign permission to use her song “Freedom” as Harris’ de facto theme song.

The event is part of a goal by Harris’ campaign and the Democratic Party to highlight abortion and reproductive rights, which they say could be key to victory in November. Harris’ visit is intended to focus on abortion rights, a key issue of the campaign and of particular importance to the state, which imposed a strict ban on the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision. Roe v. Wade. Ahead of the trip, the Harris campaign released a new ad focusing on a Texas woman who miscarried and nearly died of sepsis because of the state’s abortion ban:

Senate Majority PAC, Democratic Party-affiliated group, announced On Thursday, he announced he would invest $5 million in his Texas Senate race. Financing will be a support 30 second ad An emergency physician targeting Cruz discusses the repercussions of the state’s abortion ban. The ad will begin airing Friday in the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio media markets, according to the PAC.

The goal of flipping any major seat in Texas has long been an elusive goal for the Democratic Party. The state hasn’t supported a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976, and hasn’t had a Democrat win statewide since 1994. But the party did not give up trying. In 2018, Congressman Beto O’Rourke avoided running for re-election in exchange for challenging Cruz for the Senate, losing by a narrow margin. thin colon margin. O’Rourke tried his luck once again by seeking the governor’s seat in 2022, but lost to incumbent Greg Abbott. Although Cruz is still favored to win a third term in the Senate, final vote It showed Allred is now locked in a race in which she’s trailing the senator. Texas Tribune.