Both men on the Democratic ticket for the White House will be at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, as well as vice-presidential hopeful Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and his wife, Elizabeth, will appear at the rally, which also features country music singer Hal Ketchum and actor Josh Hartnett.

“This is probably the one and only time that both Sens. Kerry and Edwards will be at the same event in Iowa,” said Colin Van Ostern, Kerry’s Iowa spokesman.

Kerry was in Arizona on Wednesday for the final presidential debate. He will be in Las Vegas on Thursday morning for an AARP convention before heading to Iowa. He will fly into Iowa just before the rally and has no other Iowa stops on his schedule Thursday.

Edwards, on the other hand, will watch the debate in Oregon, Van Ostern said, flying into Iowa late Wednesday. He will hold town hall meetings in Sioux City and Council Bluffs before driving by bus through the “rolling hills of western Iowa.”

Kerry and Edwards will have a meeting in Des Moines just before the scheduled rally.

Several prominent Iowa politicians will also be at the event.

Gov. Tom Vilsack and his wife Christie, as well as Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, will be speaking before the 7 p.m. program featuring Ketchum.

“I think this event will be an opportunity for Sen. Kerry to build steam after the last debate and into the home stretch,” Van Ostern said.

Gabe Whitaker, president of the ISU Democrats, said he is excited about seeing both Kerry and Edwards on the same stage.

“We’re carpooling,” he said. “We haven’t had many opportunities to see them in Iowa.”

Whitaker said he has only been able to attend an August rally in Sioux City this campaign season.

Several ISU Democrats will be volunteering at the rally. “They’ll be helping people register to vote and sign up for absentee ballots,” Whitaker said. “But most of us will just be spectators.”

Van Ostern said the crowd will be large, but he didn’t to provide an estimate.

“Both Kerry and Edwards have spent considerable time in Iowa, especially during the primaries,” he said. “They’ve both traveled to all corners of the state. Now people will come from all over the state to see them in Des Moines.”

The rally is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.

Tickets may be obtained from any Kerry campaign office. The Ames office is at 319 Clark Ave.