Kamala Harris to speak at Throwback Brewery in North Hampton, tout small business plan

PORTSMOUTH — Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak to supporters at Throwback Brewery in North Hampton Wednesday, a campaign official confirmed, bringing her 2024 presidential campaign to New Hampshire for the first time.

The campaign official said the time of the event was not yet being made public. The event is ticketed and at capacity.

Harris is expected to propose a tax break intended to help entrepreneurs offset the costs of starting a small business. She also plans to outline how she intends to pay for the proposal.

Harris is coming to New Hampshire after a Labor Day weekend campaign blitz visiting toss-up states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. 

It is her first visit to the Granite State since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, as well as her first since April 2021, when she came to promote bipartisan jobs and infrastructure legislation. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, visited the state on July 31 to take part in a rally promoting reproductive freedom.

Harris last visited the Seacoast in February 2019, drawing an overflow crowd to Portsmouth’s South Church as a candidate in the New Hampshire presidential primary. That year, her early popularity faded and she dropped out of the contest in December.

Now, she returns as the favorite to win the state, leading former president Donald Trump by seven points in the two latest New Hampshire polls. The state’s four electoral college votes could be important in what is expected to be a tight election in November.

More: Harris to propose $50K tax break for small business in economic plan

Trump weighs in ahead of Harris visit to NH

Trump responded to Harris’ planned visit to the state on Truth Social, posting Harris “sees there are problems for her campaign in New Hampshire because of the fact that they disrespected it in their primary and never showed up.” Neither Harris nor Biden visited the state prior to the January presidential primary due to a dispute between New Hampshire and the Democratic National Committee regarding the state’s place in the presidential primary calendar.

“I protected New Hampshire’s First-In-The-Nation Primary and ALWAYS will!” Trump stated.

Trump last visited the state in January before the presidential primary. However, the Boston Globe reported this week Trump’s campaign is shifting its attention elsewhere because it no longer views New Hampshire as a battleground state.