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“Uncle Joe” is coming home to Northeastern Pennsylvania. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden will visit Luzerne County this Sunday to campaign for fellow Democrats Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright two days before Tuesday’s general election. 

Luzerne County Democratic Committee Member Kathy Bozinski confirmed the visit Wednesday night. She said the rally will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, but said further details, including location, were not yet available. 

“To Democrats in our region, former Vice-president Biden is family,” Bozinski said. 

“We are thrilled he’s is coming here to support Bob Casey, Matt Cartwright, and all of our candidates, and know his visit will cap a campaign which has truly energized Democrats in Luzerne County,” she added. 

Scranton-born Biden served as vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 until 2017. He has been active on the campaign trail in recent weeks, appearing on behalf of fellow Democrats as the midterm election looms. 

What remains unclear is whether Biden, 75, will launch his own campaign to unseat Republican President Donald Trump in 2020. 

He removed himself from the 2016 race following the death of his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46. While Biden has made no commitment to 2020, he has been dropping hints about considering a run for at least the past year. 

On Tuesday, Politico wrote about what it called Biden’s latest “working class whisperer tour,” which is expected to take him to at least six states carried by Trump in 2016. 

Wednesday’s announcement signals that the former senator from Delaware will touch down in his birth state as part of that sprint — and not just anywhere in Pennsylvania, but here in Luzerne County, which pundits have called a lynchpin to Trump’s victory, given how resoudingly he won the county, thanks in no small part to longtime Democrats handing him their votes. 

It also signals that both parties continue to see our area as competitive. 

Last week Vice President Mike Pence campaigned for Cartwright’s opponent, John Chrin, and other Republican candidates during a rally at the Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort. 

And Trump returned to Luzerne County last summer, packing the Mohegan Sun Arena in August for a rally that was billed as support for Casey’s challenger, Rep. Lou Barletta. Nevertheless, many who attended that rally for the popular Hazleton Republican sported gear proclaiming their support for “Trump 2020.” 

It is against that backdrop — with control of Congress at stake in Tuesday’s vote, seen by some as a potential referendum on Trump’s presidency — that Biden will be coming here. 

Check back for updates, and see Thursday’s Times Leader for more.  

Biden to rally for Dems in Luzerne County