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Harris, Trump court suburban Pennsylvania voters in path to White House

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Harris, Trump court suburban Pennsylvania voters in path to White House


The keys to the White House may be decided on the ground in Pennsylvania, where campaigns are blanketing the commonwealth, and the pivotal suburbs.

Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Philadelphia suburbs this week as they vie for Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, and the suburban residents who could prove crucial to their effort.

“We just want to make sure that Kamala wins,” said Rosemary Moller. “Because the alternative is very frightening.”

She and her husband, Jeffrey, added to the more than one million door knocks the campaign has completed in the state as volunteers canvass out of 50 campaign offices. They hit the pavement in Montgomery County, a region they too call home.

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“If you’ve judged by lawn signs, you’d have to say that, like, 99% of the lawns don’t have a sign out at all, so you don’t really know what’s what’s going on,” said Jeffrey Moller.

“In our neighborhood,” Rosemary Moller added, “It’s a little bit more Kamala than Trump.”

The Harris-Walz campaign approaches Pennsylvania with go-everywhere tactics, but a senior advisor for Pennsylvania notes the suburbs are a significant target. They’re full throttle with organizing, phone calls and paid media, recognizing the need for significant margins in the suburbs to win Pennsylvania.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton received 742,226 votes in the four counties surrounding Philadelphia. Trump ultimately won the state. But in 2020, President Joe Biden got 170,792 more, when he ultimately turned the state blue that year.

RELATED STORY | Pennsylvania GOP group comes out with support for Harris-Walz ticket

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But the campaign sees the suburbs as their own blue wall, and believes they are seeing enthusiasm in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia that will match 2020 levels.

“Our township isn’t the well to do area that you might find elsewhere in Montgomery County, people trying to raise their kids and put their kids through school and so forth. So I think money is a big issue,” said Jeffrey Moller, adding he doesn’t believe it makes sense to connect higher prices to the Biden administration.

The campaign is homing in on messages including Harris’ plan to combat price gouging, her healthcare policy, reproductive rights and around the issue of democracy.

It believes they’re making progress in their suburban margins, according to a senior advisor for Pennsylvania, in part contending Trump’s “extremism” is driving voters to them as they also focus on swaying Republicans, and make efforts in more historically red areas.

During the Republican primary, more than 19% of voters supported Nikki Haley over Trump in Bucks County, and nearly 25% of voters supported Nikki Haley over Trump in Montgomery County.

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“The coalition we have built has room for everyone who is ready to turn the page on the chaos and instability of Donald Trump,” Harris said during a rally alongside Republicans who have endorsed her at Washington Crossing.

But former president Donald Trump’s team has dismissed concerns over former Haley supporters backing Harris, as they zero in on issues like inflation, the economy and the border.

“We win this great commonwealth, we are going to win the whole ball game,” Trump said during a town hall in Oaks, PA earlier this week, his first visit to the collar counties since the Republican National Convention.

A campaign official described it as a battle of ideas, noting they are quadrupling down on the message ‘are you better off now than you were four years ago?’ in the counties surrounding Philadelphia.

The official said they are “feeling good” about the counties, pointing to their ground game investments, the campaign having more than two dozen offices across the state, and Bucks County where slightly more Republicans than Democrats have registered to vote.

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That’s where Caroline Devenuto is volunteering, one of thousands across the state.

“Definitely feeling confident because there’s so much more visibility this election,” she said, who is volunteering as a “Trump Force 47” team captain this election.

“I’ve never gotten money from anybody in my entire life, much less from the President of the United States. So during COVID, when, like, all of us single mothers were out here scrapping for money, like, you know, trying to make ends meet, that was the I was like, you know, he sees us. He cares about us.” she said.

For each campaign, reaching women in the suburbs is a particular focus.

“Well, I’ve always supported Trump. My biggest issue, as I mentioned, was immigration. I’m a first generation American. My parents immigrated to America legally and that’s how it should be done, the way my parents came to this country,” said Vicky Wagner.

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She was part of a group of women that came together to see Trump at the town hall. For some, it was their first time seeing the former president, pointing to immigration, safety, affordability and foreign affairs as top concerns.

“I know people that voted for him first and then the second election they did not in this election they’re back. Women. So hopefully, you know, we’re going to see a big change in that. I hope more women do come out,” said Colleen Rossi, noting she did consider other candidates but believes “he’s the only one that can get the job done” and plans to vote for him again.

But polling has shown a historic gender divide, with women breaking for Harris in record numbers. Her campaign believes it has grown support among them, and on the trail has heavily focused on reproductive rights.

“I’m a nurse, so you know, it might not be my choice, but even though I’m 68 years old, I still have a vote, and I can vote for my, you know, my nieces and other women I know,” said Rosemary Moller.

With a race in battlegrounds that’s sure to be close, there are still challenges. Former Democratic Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies, the first woman to represent her suburban Philadelphia district in Congress, now teaches about women in politics at the University of Pennsylvania.

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“I still think that many, many, many people are more comfortable walking into the voting booth and voting for a White male. And that’s what I said when on the when I went to Congress the first year of the woman, we knew that we were pushing the rock up the hill,” Margolies said.

Now comes a push into the home stretch outside Philadelphia for each campaign, in the collar counties that could decide the presidency.

RELATED STORY | Harris’ interview with Fox News is marked by testy exchanges over immigration and more





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Pennsylvania

Frost advisory for part of Pennsylvania for Friday

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Frost advisory for part of Pennsylvania for Friday


A frost advisory was issued by the National Weather Service on Thursday at 4:18 p.m. valid for Friday between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. for Southern Centre, Southern Clinton and Southern Lycoming as well as Huntingdon, Perry, Cumberland and Adams counties.

The weather service adds, “Temperatures falling to the mid 30s will result in frost formation.”

“Frost could harm sensitive outdoor vegetation. Sensitive outdoor plants may be killed if left uncovered,” adds the weather service. “Cover or bring inside any plants you wish to keep growing.”

What to do if there is a frost advisory

Frost advisories are issued from May to October (but can be extended if necessary) when temperatures, winds, and sky cover are favorable for frost development. This is most likely to happen when the temperature is 36 degrees or less. In some cases, the frost is severe enough to end the growing season and is then referred to as a ‘killing frost’.

According to the weather service, if a frost advisory is issued for your area, cover up sensitive plants before the sun sets so that it can help retain heat near the plants, or move the plants indoors for the night, if possible.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.



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Elon Musk speaking at pro-Trump super PAC’s town halls in Pennsylvania ahead of voter registration deadline

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Elon Musk speaking at pro-Trump super PAC’s town halls in Pennsylvania ahead of voter registration deadline



CBS News Philadelphia

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Tesla CEO, X owner and billionaire Elon Musk will appear in the Philadelphia area on Thursday for a town hall event to promote absentee voting and early voting in the 2024 election.

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Musk, who has publicly backed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is set to appear around 4 p.m. in Folsom, Delaware County.

On X, Musk said he’s giving a series of talks in the battleground state. America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC that has backing from Musk, is organizing the event.

The super PAC has spent over $113 million on the 2024 election cycle, according to the nonprofit political finance tracker OpenSecrets.

America PAC is requiring attendees to sign a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments and be a registered voter in the state. Musk said you must have already voted in Pennsylvania to attend the event.

The “petition in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms” offers supporters $47 for each registered voter in seven battleground states that they can get to sign the petition. The winner of this election will be the nation’s 47th president.

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Besides Pennsylvania, the program is open to voters in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina until Oct. 21.

The super PAC has other town halls with Musk planned in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, though dates and times for those events are still listed as TBD. Musk says his series of talks is from Thursday through Monday, Oct. 21.

The location of Musk’s Philadelphia-area town hall event was not public as of Thursday morning.

Musk appeared on the campaign trail with Trump at his second rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier in October, nearly three months after an assassination attempt on the former president.

Musk Trump Butler
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speak on stage as he joins former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, 2024.

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JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images






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Harris courts disaffected Republicans in Bucks County • Pennsylvania Capital-Star

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Harris courts disaffected Republicans in Bucks County • Pennsylvania Capital-Star


UPPER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP— Joined on stage by Republican supporters at the site where George Washington crossed the Delaware, Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday delivered an address focused on unity and winning over voters from across the aisle.

“In a typical election year, you all being here with me might be a bit surprising. Dare I say unusual,” Harris, the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, said as she chuckled. “But not in this election.”

“Because at stake in this race are the Democratic ideals that our founders and generations of Americans before us have fought for,” she added. “At stake in this election is the Constitution of the United States, its very self.”

Washington Crossing Historic Park is the Bucks County site that was a pivotal scene in the Revolutionary War. Bucks is the lone purple county in Philadelphia’s suburban counties, and is expected once again to play a key role in the presidential election.

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Harris pledged to work across the aisle in search of solutions, while accusing former President Donald Trump, her opponent, of not being serious about fixing the challenges the nation faces.

“Unlike Donald Trump, who frankly as we have seen cares more about running on problems than fixing problems,” she said, “I want to fix problems, which means working across the aisle. It requires working across the aisle. It requires embracing good ideas from wherever they come.”

She criticized Trump for his actions leading up to Jan. 6 and accused him of being “increasingly unstable and unhinged.” If elected, she added, Trump would “go after” journalists, non-partisan election officials, and judges he doesn’t like.

Trump claims the title of ‘father of IVF’ in Fox News town hall with women voters

Harris said she has pledged to appoint a Republican to her cabinet and that she would also create a “Council on Bipartisan Solutions.” She said “nobody has a corner on the good ideas. They actually come from many places and one should, especially if they want to be a leader, one should welcome those ideas.”

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“And those ideas which are about in particular strengthening the middle class, securing our border, defending our freedoms, and maintaining our leadership in the world,” she said. 

Harris, a lifelong Democrat, said her favorite committee while serving in the U.S. Senate was the Intelligence Committee and lauded the bipartisan work they accomplished.

“All of this is to also say that I believe for America to be the world’s strongest democracy, we must have a healthy two party system,” Harris said to applause. “Because it is when we have a healthy two-party system that leaders are then required to debate the merits of policy and to work, yes, across the aisle regularly and routinely to get things done.”

Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said on stage Wednesday that Harris shares his “allegiance to the rule of law, to the Constitution, and to democracy.”

“Whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison to those fundamental matters of principle, of decency, of fidelity to this nation,” Kinzinger said. 

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He added that because of those principles Harris was the “conservative choice” in the upcoming election.

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley responded to Harris’ event by citing a Politico story published Wednesday that claimed some Pennsylvania Democrats are concerned about the campaign’s Philadelphia operations.

“Kamala Harris’ flailing campaign efforts in Pennsylvania paired with President Trump’s vision of Making America Strong, Safe, and Great Again is the reason he is winning in the Keystone State.,” Whatley said. “While Kamala and Democrats point fingers and play the blame game, for the first time in 30 years, more Americans identify as Republicans because they trust President Trump and Republicans down the ballot.”

Harris backers on GOP support 

The campaign event on Wednesday was invite-only with a few hundred people in attendance.

Bob and Kristina Lange are family farmers in Malvern, lifelong Republicans, and former Trump voters. They opened for Harris on Wednesday and have been featured in multiple digital ads targeting rural voters in Pennsylvania.

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“January 6th was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me,” Bob Lange said on stage.

The Langes told reporters that after speaking in support of Harris, some Republicans have criticized their decision and “divorced us from their friendship.” 

“You know, it’s unfortunate,” Bob Lange told the Capital-Star. “But I’ve got to tell you, the support we’ve gotten from people coming to our farm market is overwhelming.”

They are optimistic about Harris’ chances in the upcoming election.

“I have a really good feeling, because I think normal Republicans, when they get in there, they just got to shake their head and say, ‘not this time,’” Bob Lange said.

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Former Republican Congressman Jim Greenwood, who represented a Bucks County-based seat in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2005, is the co-chair of Pennsylvania Republicans for Harris and has been traveling around the state promoting the Harris campaign.

Although Democratic candidates for statewide office have performed well in recent elections in Bucks County, Republicans recently regained a voter registration advantage in Bucks County over Democrats for the first time since 2007.

“So registration is something, and it’s important, but what really is going to tell the tale is how many people go out and vote,” Greenwood told the Capital-Star. “And a lot of people, you know, they’ll be at the Grange Fair and they’ll register to vote. That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going to come out.”

For decades Bucks County has had a rich history of ticket splitting. Greenwood won his seat as a Republican and Bill Clinton won the district in the 1990s, and in 2020 Republican Brian Fitzpatrick won reelection for Congress while Democrat Joe Biden carried the county.

Biden defeated Trump in Bucks County by 4 points in 2020, although Hillary Clinton won the county by less than 1 point in the 2016 presidential election.

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Greenwood told the Capital-Star to keep an eye on central Bucks County on Election night. 

“You want to look at Doylestown borough and township, Solebury, Buckingham, Northampton,” he said, citing those areas being higher income neighborhoods with a high concentration of college graduates. “I think you’re going to see a lot of split tickets in Central Bucks County.”

According to the Harris campaign, it has 10 campaign offices in Philadelphia’s collar counties, including three located in Bucks County.

Andrew Macaulay, is a Democratic supervisor in Warrington, Bucks County, which he describes as a very “purple” area. 

He supports the Harris campaign’s outreach to Republicans and thinks that there will be a lot of “not MAGA Republicans,” who will skip the presidential ticket, but then vote “fairly standard Republican” down the ballot. 

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“I think a lot of Republicans are still at core Republicans, they’re not this version of the Republican Party, and so I think we’ll get a pass in this election and next cycle the Democrats have to prove themselves again because they’re up against crazy pants,” he told the Capital-Star. 

Zach Dowhower, a Philadelphia resident and lifelong Pennsylvanian, is also a Democrat who welcomes the Harris’ campaign’s push to win over Republicans. He told the Capital-Star he believes “getting those people motivated, I think, is how you bring a coalition like Pennsylvania together.”

Dowhower mentioned that his father is a lifelong Republican who has not supported Trump but said that this is the first time he thinks his father is “excited” to vote for a Democrat in Kamala Harris.

“I think that the rhetoric from the right is just kind of pushing him to a way that he doesn’t feel like that party he can align with,” Dowhower told the Capital-Star. 

Walz campaigns in rural western Pennsylvania ahead of Pittsburgh rally

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Robert Schwartz, a senior advisor for Haley Voters for Harris, told the Capital-Star that recently launched a seven-figure ad campaign aimed at gaining support for Harris. The organization is focused on winning over voters who may have supported former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in the primary.

“Our message is very simple,” he said. “It’s actually that Kamala Harris is on issues like the economy or on the border, she is center-left, she’s not extreme left. She is somebody that the center-right can feel comfortable electing, whether that’s tax cuts or hiring border agents… things like that.”

“She’s not the extreme liberal that MAGA wants you to believe she is,” he said.

He cited a poll released on Oct. 9 by Democratic-leaning pollster Blueprint that showed 45% of Republican and independent Haley primary voters support Trump in the presidential election, while 36% are backing Harris. He said that’s proof that Haley voters can have an impact on the presidential election.

“What we’re trying to say is Donald Trump has never asked for your vote, he doesn’t want your vote,” Schwartz said. “Kamala Harris does and she’s offering a reasonable way forward.”

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Haley is backing Trump’s candidacy and has sharply criticized the effort using her name to try to sway voters to support Harris.

Haley received 158,000 votes, 16%, in Pennsylvania’s primary, even though she ended her candidacy a month before.

Following her address, Harris participated in a taped interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier at Washington Crossing Historic Park.

With 20 days until the presidential election, Pennsylvania is expected to go down to the wire, with both campaigns going all-in to win the state’s 19 electoral votes. National ratings outlets describe the state as a “toss-up.”

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