BALTIMORE — After traveling to states with much higher-profile gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, President Joe Biden will hold a rally next week in solidly Democratic Maryland the day before the crucial midterm elections, according to the White House.
Biden’s planned visit follows trips to Florida — where he stumped this week for Democratic Senate candidate Val Demings and gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Crist — and other states with tight contests that will determine control of the U.S. Senate and House. Control of Congress is a huge factor in whether the president can win approval of the remaining items on his legislative agenda during the second half of his term.
On Saturday, Biden plans to join former President Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, which, like Florida, is hosting competitive races for U.S. Senate and governor.
On Monday Biden will appear in Columbia, according to the White House. The scheduling choice raised questions because Maryland’s races for governor, the U.S. Senate, attorney general and comptroller appear to be dominated by Democrats.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked Wednesday at her briefing why Biden would choose to campaign in a state in which polls show Democrat Wes Moore with a large lead over Republican Dan Cox in the governor’s race. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, is also heavily favored to win reelection.
The White House had said in an earlier news release that Monday’s visit would be part of a rally for the Democratic National Committee, but offered no other details. The time and setting for the rally remained unknown.
“I’m going to be really careful about getting into any kind of punditry from here,” Jean-Pierre said from the White House podium. “The president believes this is an important time. The American public has a choice. And there are many places to have that conversation and lay that out for the American people. There are many places where it’s going to be important for the American people to hear directly from the president.”
Jean-Pierre reminded reporters that Biden is going to New Mexico on Thursday, to Philadelphia on Saturday and “he was just in Florida in front of 3,000 people last night.”
Maryland, in which Democrats have a 2-1 voter registration advantage over Republicans, is friendly political terrain for Biden to provide a midterm “closing argument.”
Biden, who represented neighboring Delaware in the U.S. Senate, has frequently visited the Baltimore area, appearing last year to tout his infrastructure package at the Port of Baltimore, and to host a town hall at Center Stage.
In August, Biden appeared with Moore and state party leaders at a Democratic National Committee event at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Cahill Recreation Center in West Baltimore on Saturday with Moore and others. Harris based her own presidential campaign in the city before the 2020 elections.
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