Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris will hold duelling campaign events this weekend in Pennsylvania, the political battleground that could be the most critical state in the November 5 US presidential election.

Trump, the former US president, will hold a Saturday rally in Wilkes-Barre in the northeastern section of the state.

US Vice President Harris will conduct a bus tour of western Pennsylvania starting in Pittsburgh on Sunday, ahead of the Democratic National Convention kickoff on Monday in Chicago.

Pennsylvania was one of three Rust Belt states, along with Wisconsin and Michigan, that helped power Trump’s upset victory in 2016.

US President Joe Biden, who grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, flipped the trio back to Democrats in 2020.

The three states are true bellwethers — the only US states to have voted for the eventual winner of the presidential race in every cycle since 2008.

In related polls published on Saturday, the New York Times said that since entering the race, Harris “has stormed into contention” in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, Sun Belt states where Trump appeared to have been forging ahead.