Candidate visits highlight importance of Western Pennsylvania in 2020 campaign
President Trump is in Westmoreland County Thursday after former Vice President Biden visited Monday
President Trump is in Westmoreland County Thursday after former Vice President Biden visited Monday
President Trump is in Westmoreland County Thursday after former Vice President Biden visited Monday
If it feels like Western Pennsylvania is getting a lot of political visits, your hunch is correct.
Former Vice President Joe Biden visited Pittsburgh on Monday.
President Donald Trump came Thursday.
Vice President Mike Pence will be in Export, Westmoreland County, on Wednesday.
While not billed as campaign visits, both Trump and Biden are expected to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County on Sept. 11 to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"It’s not surprising. The candidates haven’t campaigned much, and now we’re actually seeing them physically out on the trail. They want to make the most of where they’re going," said Kristen Coopie, the director of Duquesne University's pre-law department.
Pennsylvania is a big prize on Election Day.
While it went for every Democratic nominee since Ronald Reagan, Trump won the state by roughly 44,000 votes in 2016.
Rural voters in the southwest Pennsylvania counties delivered Trump margins he needed to help propel him to the win.
"The question is — can Biden win back some of those working class voters in rural counties? Can Trump grab onto those Democrats in the suburbs who have been moving away? That’s all up for grabs, so that’s why you see so much attention," said Nathaniel Rakich, an elections writer for FiveThirtyEight — a data-based journalism site that partners with ABC News.
While a new Quinnipiac poll shows many Pennsylvanians have made up their mind about who they're supporting on Nov. 3, Rakich says history shows minds can change.
"Western Pennsylvania, specifically — that’s home to a lot of voters who have changed their minds in the last few years."