Kamala Harris’ first Pennsylvania post-debate rally will be in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area this Friday, a crucial stopping place in the battleground state.
The event will be held at Wilkes University, per the Times Leader, as part of a whistlestop tour of key swing states before this November’s presidential election.
“The event will take place in the evening, and details regarding the format and capacity are being determined by the Harris campaign. We will share this information as soon as it is available,” Greg Cant, President of Wilkes University, said in a statement.
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Harris is likely to be accompanied by her running mate, Ohio Governor Tim Walz, on the campaign trail, as the Democrats and Republicans try to win over undecided voters.
US President Joe Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris meet with volunteer firefighters as they visit the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terror attack in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2024. Harris is campaigning in the crucial battleground state.
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Scranton falls within Lackawanna County, while Wilkes-Barre is in Luzerne County.
In 2020, Biden won in the former—his birthplace—by 8 points, while Trump won in the latter by around 14 points.
Why is Pennsylvania a swing state?
Both counties are hotly-contested areas during election cycles and are known historically for having extremely large Polish and other Slavic communities.
Northeast Pennsylvania as a whole is a melting pot of many ethnicities, including Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian and other communities, making it a key area for candidates to tackle.
The state’s diversity has aided in cementing its status as a swing state, with Philadelphia’s urban, more liberal population in contrast with conservative voters in rural areas and Pittsburgh.
The state’s swing back and forth has been a factor since the United States’ early years and, while it has stuck with one party or another for longer periods of time, recent elections have seen candidates spending time and money in attracting voters who have changed their mind from year to year.
In 2024, it’s Kamala Harris and Donald Trump who will be hoping to win the state’s crucial 19 Electoral College votes.
How has Pennsylvania influenced past elections
The state’s modern role as a swing state came with the 2000 campaign between Al Gore and George W. Bush, alongside Florida and Michigan.
Gore won the state in 2000, with Democrats winning the next three races, all of which were tight.
Then in 2016, Trump flipped Pennsylvania red with 48.6 percent of the vote over Hilary Clinton’s 47.9 percent. There were under 50,000 votes between them.
The United States Senate seat up for grabs that year also showed the competitiveness of the state, won by incumbent Republican Pat Toomey by a similarly tight margin.
In 2020, Pennsylvania flipped back to blue and voted for Joe Biden, who went on to win the White House.
As the most populous swing state, gaining those 19 Electoral College votes is crucial for both candidates in 2024, with The Associated Press writing that it would be hard for whoever loses the state to win the election.
No Democrat has won the White House without it since 1948.
At the same time, 2024 is seeing another hotly contested Senate race which could influence whether Democrats take back the chamber or not.
What are the swing states in the 2024 election?
States highlighted in purple where key battleground elections are expected to play a crucial role in the upcoming 2024 U.S. elections.
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Alongside Pennsylvania are six other key swing states both candidates will be trying to secure for the crucial 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory.
They are:
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Wisconsin
If Kamala Harris can win over voters she’s meeting this week, it may help her to secure one of the blue wall states that could lead her to victory.
As for Donald Trump, who has already made multiple visits to Pennsylvania, he will hit Arizona on Thursday and Nevada on Friday. Harris will visit North Carolina on Thursday.
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally in the 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial on August 30, 2024 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Promising to cut energy bills in half, conducting the largest deportation operation in history and putting a 200% tariff on foreign made automobiles, Trump called his election opponents “Comrade Kamala,” and “Tampon Tim” while rallying in the all-important battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
