Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney to appear with Harris at Wisconsin rally

MADISON, Wis. -- Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, will appear with Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Wisconsin Thursday evening, as the vice president seeks to win over disaffected Republicans in the key battleground state.

Cheney is among a handful of prominent Republicans who have pledged to support Harris' bid, but her endorsement, as the daughter of a former Republican vice president and as one of former President Donald Trump's most outspoken critics within the party, is one that Harris hopes to leverage in crucial states like Wisconsin, whose margins are expected to be razor thin.

Harris leads Trump by roughly 2 percentage points in Wisconsin, according to 538's polling average in the state.

The location of Thursday's event is symbolic: the campaign is holding it in the central Wisconsin city of Ripon, where an 1854 meeting at a local schoolhouse helped form the Republican Party.

Earlier Thursday, the campaign announced endorsements of Harris by more than 20 Republicans in Wisconsin, including current and former officials.

"We, the undersigned, are Republicans from across Wisconsin who bring the same message: Donald Trump does not align with Wisconsin values. To ensure our democracy and our economy remain strong for another four years, we must elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House," the group wrote in a letter.

"We have plenty of policy disagreements with Vice President Harris. But what we do agree upon is more important," they wrote.

The vice president will project a similar message on Thursday, according to a senior campaign official.

"In her remarks, Harris plans to note that while Republicans may not agree with her on every issue, she promises to uphold the Constitution, America's fundamental principles and the rule of law," said the official.

Harris will also "praise Cheney for her patriotism, character and courage to put country over party," the official added.

The implications for Harris of appealing to Republicans could be significant in Wisconsin, Joe Zepecki, a Milwaukee-based Democratic strategist, told ABC News.

"The more Republicans she gets, and the more Republicans she gets to simply leave a ballot line blank when they might otherwise be voting for Donald Trump, that makes the math virtually impossible for the Republicans," Zepecki said.

Cheney endorsed Harris in a post on X last month, saying, "As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris."

The appearance Thursday of Cheney, who served as vice-chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, comes just one day after the publication of a 165-page filing by special counsel Jack Smith, in which he unveiled new evidence about Trump's efforts in the weeks after the 2020 election to reverse the results.