WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit the southwest Wisconsin town of Westby on Thursday to support the Kamala Harris campaign to be his successor, the White House announced. The President will arrive at the LaCrosse Airport on Air Force One and be taken 26 miles by motorcade to Westby. The site was not announced. Local people said the likely venue was the Westby Performing Arts Center. The White House said the president will highlight how his Investing in America agenda is creating “a brighter, more prosperous future.” The visit was expected to attract statewide media coverage in the critical state of Wisconsin for Harris against Donald Trump, who won the state narrowly in 2020. Trump was in LaCrosse last week.
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498-seat auditorium. The pride of Westby. Operated by the School District. Built 2020.
Westby profile
The population is 2,300 in a mostly rural county with 3,100 people. The county seat, Viroqua, is 7-1/2 miles away. The county went for Trump over Biden 52% to 47% in 2020. Westby is known for creameries and cheese. With seven farmer-owned co-op plants, the town is known regionally as Co-op City. The town is the headwaters of the Bad Axe River, which enters the Mississsippi River five miles down a coulee. The town was settled by Norwegians from the Biri region. It bears the name of the Norwegian general store owner, Ole Westby, who was a Civil War veteran. Not much Norwegian is spoken these days, but a local gift shop is in the Uff Da Shoppe. A festival in May honors Syttende Mai, for the May 17 anniversary of Norwegian independence.