In a slew of mid-October campaign speeches in Pennsylvania, Vice President Kamala Harris pitched economic policies that she believes would boost the purchasing power and job opportunities of the working class. These calls follow the campaign pledge she made this summer to revitalize Pennsylvania’s manufacturing sector and reinvigorate its economy.

Harris is wise to focus on such issues in the Keystone State. Having represented Pennsylvania in Congress, I recognize voters’ concerns on these bread-and-butter issues. Pennsylvania voters are acutely sensitive to inflation, job security and the stability of their retirement savings.

Harris has experienced some recent momentum in the commonwealth, with one recent poll indicating she is leading Trump there by one point. Still, some voters remain skeptical that she can protect their jobs. A recent Quinnipiac University poll of Rust Belt states found that likely voters still trust Trump more in his handling of the economy. Some recent Pennsylvania polls have demonstrated that this preference may have evolved over the last month, so veering from proven, pro-growth policies isn’t a risk that Harris should want to take.

As Pennsylvania’s union members, steelworkers and manufacturers begin heading to the polls, Harris needs to make one concrete promise to have a chance to win their votes — that she will not continue the aggressive, job-killing antitrust policies the Biden administration has promoted, policies that threaten the viability of her ambitious economic goals.

Although inflation is the economic issue that receives most attention, the Biden administration’s antitrust regulations have created just as many headaches for many Pennsylvania businesses.

Soon after taking office, Biden appointed Lina Khan — one of the nation’s most anti-business activists — to run the Federal Trade Commission. Unsurprisingly, she immediately rewrote antitrust regulatory guidelines in an aggressively hostile manner. Most notably, she rescinded the consumer welfare standard, a long-running constraint on federal power that ensured the government would only challenge business activities if they harmed consumers (such as by instituting higher prices, worse service, or reduced competition).

Why would Harris support such actions at a time when Rust Belt swing states like Pennsylvania are grappling with inflation and struggling to create jobs and economic opportunity?

Khan subscribes to what’s called the New Brandeis antitrust movement — a movement that believes the government should not shy away from intervention in businesses’ affairs even when they are lowering prices for consumers.

This movement might sound good in theory to Khan and her fellow left-leaning Ivy League economists, but it simply won’t work for Pennsylvania’s voters.

Foreign nations like China continue to use predatory practices to undermine the job security of Pennsylvania’s blue collar workers. Compounding this concern, Pennsylvania manufacturing across multiple industries is still moving too frequently overseas.

Khan’s actions risk undermining the ability of even Pennsylvania’s top businesses to compete with these foreign companies. The policies have caused them to lay off workers (or hire fewer people than they otherwise would), raise prices, slash research and development spending, and even consider moving their businesses elsewhere.

The federal government should help unleash economic opportunity, not turn the economy into an academic test case in which the most vulnerable among us become the test subjects. And make no mistake: Voters (especially those who run their own businesses) are watching. That is why the Wall Street Journal recently discussed a potential FTC shake-up as an electoral issue with a headline that read “Fate of Lina Khan’s Bid to Reshape Antitrust Comes Down to Election.”

But Harris isn’t Biden. In her recent Fox News interview, she stated unambiguously that her administration won’t be a continuation of the Biden presidency. This would be a perfect issue upon which to highlight that distinction. In the remaining days before the election, Harris should signal a return to pro-growth policies that protect jobs and stimulate business growth.

If she is going to gain traction with Pennsylvania’s many independent business owners who are still on the fence about who to vote for, Harris needs to prove that she will protect them, not tie herself to Biden’s overreaching regulatory approach.

Jason Altmire, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013.

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