First Lady and Congressional leader will headline competing political events in La Crosse on Monday

President Biden’s wife is about to make her first official visit to La Crosse on Monday, at around the same time that the Republican leader of the U.S. House will be in the city as well.

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden has a Monday evening appearance scheduled in La Crosse, campaigning with Gwen Walz, the wife of Minnesota Governor and vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz. Also in the early evening, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana is scheduled to lead a get-out-the-vote rally in La Crosse with 3rd District Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden, who’s running for re-election.

The two parties have had dueling celebrity events in La Crosse recently, with former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson stopping in the area on the same day as a UWL rally featuring Vice President Kamala Harris.

Mrs. Walz met with voters last month in La Crosse at the Concordia Ballroom, where Democrats were gathered to watch a televised presidential debate. Jill Biden did not travel with her husband Joe Biden when he was in La Crosse on a presidential stop three years ago, visiting the MTU bus barn. Both women are educators, and they will appear in La Crosse Monday night at an Educators for Harris-Walz event.