Kamala Harris joins Liz Cheney in Chester County to win over suburban Republicans

Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney made their first appearance together in Pennsylvania on Monday and kicked off a tour of courting Republicans in blue wall states.

Republicans for Kamala Harris hit the Main Line on Monday after Harris joined former conservative Congresswoman Liz Cheney for a moderated discussion at The Haas Theatre in Malvern. 

This was Harris’ second trip to the Philadelphia suburbs with prominent Republicans supporting her campaign in the past week, and her visit is part of a battle ground blitz where Harris joined Republicans for additional events in Michigan and Wisconsin. 

“There are moments in the history of our country which challenge us, each of us, to really decide do we stand for those things that we talk about, including in particular country over party, and you have been extraordinarily courageous in the way that you have done that,” Harris said to Cheney at the beginning of the event. 

“I counted that I have taken the oath of office six times. And for the elected leaders here, we know it is an oath that one must take sincerely and unequivocally, which is an oath among other things to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to understand what those principles represent and what they require of the individual who holds the office in the public trust,” Harris added. 

Malvern is nestled on the edge of Philadelphia’s Democratic-leaning Main Line suburbs, and sits in a county where Republicans have been losing ground over the previous two presidential elections. 

Democrats went from winning Chester county by 7 points in 2016 to winning the county by 17 points in 2020, and during that time, the party flipped the county commissioners office and the district attorney’s office. 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley garnered more than 9,000 votes, or 24%, in Chester county’s 2024 primary even though she dropped out of the race weeks beforehand.

Recent polling from the New York Times and Quinnipiac suggest that Harris’ pitch to Republicans may be paying off. Harris has between 9% and 12% of Republicans supporting her, according to the two polls, which could help boost her chances of winning the important swing state. 

Throughout their conversation moderated by The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell, both Harris and Cheney warned voters about the dangers of a second Trump presidency. 

“I think that in this election, and especially here in Pennsylvania, we have the opportunity to tell the whole world who we are,” Cheney said in her closing pitch to those in attendance. 

“We have the chance to say we are going to reject cruelty, we’re going to reject the kind of vile vitriol that we’ve seen from Donald Trump, we’re going to reject the misogyny that we’ve seen from Donald Trump and JD Vance, and we have the chance in this race to elect somebody who you know is going to defend the rule of law.”

Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester) flipped the local congressional seat in 2018, and she spoke in support of her friend and what it was like seeing Cheney support Harris on stage. 

“I’m good friends with Liz, and I am very overwhelmed and in awe of her bravery because we don’t have a ton in common politically, but we have in common the fact that we really respect the nation and the constitution,” Houlahan said. 

“I’m so in awe and admire her because I’ve sat with her when she’s been threatened. I’ve sat with her when she’s had security guards. What she’s doing is enormously important and enormously brave, and I’m very grateful that she’s here in our community.”