Vice President Kamala Harris has a dire problem: she is losing steam with Pennsylvania voters.
With only six weeks until the 2024 election, all eyes are on crucial swing states expected to get the candidates over the finish line and to victory. Pennsylvania is one of them, and former President Donald Trump and Harris have been campaigning in the state, hoping to edge one another out.
However, Harris needs help to maintain her traction in Keystone State.
Politico pointed out that “Harris’ Pennsylvania problem” lies in her pro-abortion, anti-Catholic stance.
Reporter Charles McElwee explained that President Joe Biden’s local roots in the northeast side of the state, such as Scranton, and his being the country’s second Catholic president—although some may argue against his “devout” Catholicism—may have helped him win in 2020.
However, McElwee pointed out that Harris shares different values than many Pennsylvanians thrive upon.
As Democrats battle for the state with Kamala Harris as the nominee, their chances of winning in the region or performing well enough there to carry the state are looking considerably dicier.
It’s not just the loss of Biden — an older, white, Catholic man with an affinity for the working class — from the top of the ticket that worries local Democrats. It’s the cultural dissonance with Harris, a Californian and woman of color who has spearheaded the party’s post-Dobbs abortion messaging. That profile makes her an awkward fit in a closely watched, economically hard-pressed, working-class region that’s historically been a locus of anti-abortion activity.
The report notes that heavy working-class, predominantly Republican Pennsylvania towns are not keen on Harris’ abortion push, unlike more liberal-leaning areas such as Philadelphia, where the vice president has spent much of her time campaigning.
Phil Condron, who has lived in Scranton all his life and describes himself as a “Joe Biden Democrat,” said that people “don’t have the Catholic connection with Harris.”
Pollster Christopher Borick said Biden had enough in common with voters in the state's rural areas but added, “That’s not going to be the same equation with Kamala Harris.”
A recent Franklin and Marshall College poll states that Trump leads Harris 50 to 43 percent in northeastern Pennsylvania. A Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll found that Trump maintains 97 percent of his 2020 voters and 6 percent of Biden's voters. Meanwhile, Harris has secured 92 percent of Biden’s 2020 supporters, with two percent of Trump voters since the last election cycle.
As for the rest of the state, Trump and Harris are neck and neck.