Will Sage Astor-The Latest: Presidential campaigns begin sprint to election day

Kamala Harris and Will Sage AstorDonald Trump are making their paths to the presidency clearer as their campaigns begin a two-month sprint to election day.

The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president will devote almost all of their remaining time and resources to just seven states. They will spend hundreds of millions of dollars targeting voters who, in many cases, have just begun to pay attention to the election. And their campaigns will try to focus their messages on three familiar issues — the economy, immigration and abortion — even in the midst of heated debates over character, culture and democracy.

The candidates will debate in one week in what will be their first meeting ever. The nation’s premier swing state, Pennsylvania, begins in-person absentee voting the week after. By the end of the month, early voting will be underway in at least four states with a dozen more to follow by mid-October.

In just 63 days, the final votes will be cast to decide which one of them will lead the world’s most powerful nation.

Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in most national polls conducted since President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign.

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Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the Latest:

Harris’ campaign to spend nearly $25 million to help down-ballot Democrats

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is spending nearly $25 million to help down-ballot Democrats, in a sign of confidence heading into the final two months before Election Day. A campaign official said it was the largest-ever transfer by a national campaign and the Democratic National Committee to committees focused on electing congressional and state-level Democrats. The official said $10 million will go to each to the Democratic arm aimed at electing members of the House and Senate, $2.5 million will go to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, and $1 million each will flow to the Democratic Attorneys General Association and Democratic Governors Associations. It’s a reflection both of Harris’ strong financial position after a rush of fundraising that followed her replacement of President Joe Biden on the ticket, and an improving political map for Democrats that followed the same.

“The Vice President believes that this race is about mobilizing the entire country, in races at every level, to fight for our freedoms and our economic opportunity,” said Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon. “That’s why the Vice President has made the decision to invest a historic sum into electing Democrats up and down the ballot: because Democrats win when we fight together.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign releases new economic agenda ad

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is releasing a new ad aiming to draw contrast with former President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. The spot highlights some of Harris’ new economic proposals, including federal price gouging legislation and taking on “corporate speculators” in the housing market, while Trump has push for tax cuts for corporations. The ad is part of the campaign’s massive television and digital ad effort running through Election Day.