Pennsylvania
Here’s Why Pennsylvania Might Be The Most Important Prize In The 2024 Election
Topline
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are nearly tied in Pennsylvania, according to two new polls this week in the battleground state, where a win for either candidate could pave the way to the White House.
Key Facts
Harris leads by 0.6 points in Pennsylvania, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average—a recent Morning Consult poll found her up by three points, 49% to 46%, and a September CBS/YouGov poll showed Harris and Trump even, both at 50%.
Pennsylvania has more electoral votes, 19, than any other battleground, and Pennsylvanians routinely pick winners, voting for 10 of the last 12 White House winners—the candidate who has won Pennsylvania has also won Michigan and Wisconsin (the three states together are known as the “blue wall”) in the past eight elections.
Pennsylvania has a 35% chance of tipping the election, far more than any other battleground state, according to political analyst Nate Silver’s election forecasting model that found Harris has a 91% of winning the election if she wins Pennsylvania, while Trump has a 96% chance of winning.
Trump became the first Republican to win Pennsylvania since the 1980s in the 2016 election, and Biden, who is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, reversed the trend in 2020, with the state to putting him over the 270-vote threshold needed to win the Electoral College when the Associated Press called Pennsylvania for Biden four days after the election.
Underscoring Pennsylvania’s weight in the 2024 election, ABC News chose to host the first presidential debate between Trump and Harris there, on Tuesday in Philadelphia; Pennsylvania is also significant to Trump personally, as he was shot there while speaking at a rally near Butler on July 14.
Pennsylvania has a large share of white, working class voters, with nearly 75% of the population identifying as non-Hispanic white—a demographic Trump typically performs well with, though Harris has made inroads with white voters compared to Biden’s performance in 2020, trailing Trump by only three points nationally, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, after Trump won the demographic by 12 points in 2020.
Surprising Fact
No Democrat has won the White House without Pennsylvania since 1948. If Harris wins Pennsylvania, and the trend of also winning Wisconsin and Michigan holds, she’s all but certain to win the White House.
Big Number
82%. That’s the share of registered voters in Pennsylvania who said the economy is a major factor in their 2024 vote, followed by inflation at 78% and the state of democracy at 70%, according to the CBS/YouGov survey. The results are on par with the national electorate, according to a recent Pew Research survey of registered voters that found 81% of registered voters rate the economy as “very important” in the election.
Chief Critic
Trump and his allies have repeatedly attacked Harris over her previous endorsement of a fracking ban—Pennsylvania is the country’s second-largest natural gas producer. “Fracking? She’s been against it for 12 years,” Trump said during Tuesday’s debate in Philadelphia. Harris, who said during a 2019 CNN climate town hall while she was running for president “there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” has said she’s since changed her stance. During Tuesday’s debate, she said she made “very clear” in 2020 that she’s against a fracking ban, presumably referring to her vice presidential debate with Mike Pence, and noted the Inflation Reduction Act opened new gas leases—reiterating a stance she took in a CNN interview last month. Harris didn’t actually say she changed her own position on the issue during the 2020 debate—instead she said then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden “will not end fracking.”
Tangent
Pennsylvania has a divided state legislature. The state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, is widely popular in the state. Democrats also control the House, but Republicans hold the majority in the Senate.
Key Background
Harris leads Trump in five of seven battleground states, while Trump is ahead in Arizona and Georgia, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages that show margins of less than three points in all seven battleground states (Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin). If Trump maintains his leads in Arizona and Georgia, and wins North Carolina, as he’s expected to, he would need just one of the “Blue Wall” states to win the White House.
Further Reading
Election 2024 Swing State Polls: Harris Leading Trump Narrowly In Michigan And Wisconsin—But Tied In Pennsylvania (Forbes)
How Kamala Harris’ Views On Fracking Have Changed—After Backtracking On Ban (Forbes)
Trump Vs. Harris 2024 Polls: Harris Up By 1 Point—As Her Lead Plateaus Before Debate (Forbes)
Pennsylvania
3 Winning Lottery Tickets Sold In Philadelphia Recently
PHILADELPHIA — Three Pennsylvania Lottery tickets sold in Philadelphia recently have been named winners in separate contests, according to officials.
In the Saturday drawing for the Treasure Hunt game, five tickets won.
One of the tickets that matched all five numbers drawn, 2-6-10-25-26, was sold at 7-Eleven, 3301 Tyson Ave. in Philadelphia. The other was sold at Omgn Inc., 2100 East Allegheny Ave., also in Philadelphia.
Those ticket and three others split the jackpot prize of $139,917.50 to win $27,983.50.
The other winning tickets were sold in Bucks, Butler, and Lebanon counties.
More than 45,800 other Treasure Hunt tickets won prizes in the drawing. Players should check every ticket, every time.
Additionally, a West Philadelphia Wawa sold a winning lottery ticket.
Lottery officials Monday announced the winning Raffle ticket numbers drawn for the third, four $50,000 prizes in the 4s Galore Drawings as part of the New Year’s Millionaire Raffle.
The Wawa at 3744 Spruce St. sold a ticket between Dec. 3 and Dec. 16 that was selected in the drawing.
Other winning tickets were sold in Cumberland, Bradford, and Westmoreland counties.
The Raffle features four bonus drawings held every other week, each awarding four $50,000 prizes, leading up to the Millionaire Raffle drawing on Jan. 4, 2025.
To learn if your ticket won a $50,000 4s Galore Drawings prize, scan it using the ticket checker on the PA Lottery Official App or at a lottery retailer.
Pennsylvania
HS FOOTBALL: LFC and WVC players selected as finalists for Pennsylvania Player of Year Award; Call receives invites to showcase games
Several athletes from the Lackawanna Football Conference and District 2 are among the 55 finalists for the Pennsylvania Player of the Year award selected by the Maxwell Football Club.
Abington Heights wide receiver Shawn Theodore, Honesdale running back Mason Avery, Riverside tight end Richie Kostoff, Scranton Prep quarterback Louis Paris and Wyoming Area running back Lidge Kellum were listed among the 55 players who are Mini Max Award winners according to a release Monday night by the Maxwell Football account on X.
The Mini Max Awards are a prestigious honor for high school football players across the Tri-State Region that includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. This year is the first year District 2 players were included among the nominees.
Awards are presented at the annual Mini Max Dinner in Philadelphia on Feb. 2 at the Drexelbrook Convention Center in Drexel Hill. The award recognizes outstanding athletic achievement and sportsmanship in high school football.
In addition to the Mini Max Awards, the Maxwell Football Club also chooses the Player of the Year for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The event culminates with the Jim Henry Award, which goes to one of the three State Players of the Year.
Call receives invites
Valley View freshman lineman Brody Call received invites to three postseason games.
Call, a 6-0, 230-pound standout for the Cougars, is invited to the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 26-29, the All-American Bowl on Jan. 17-20 in Miami, Florida, and the Polynesian Bowl Combine and Showcase in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 21-22.
Call started every game for the Cougars and helped lead the team to the District 2 Class 4A championship and an 11-2 record.
Cesare ceremony
The 33rd Fiore Cesare Award and Scholarship ceremony is Friday at 2 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Scranton.
Mid Valley running back and defensive back Jakob Lesher, Delaware Valley quarterback and punter Logan Olsommer, Scranton Prep quarterback Louis Paris, Riverside quarterback Chase Taddonio and Western Wayne running back and defensive back Josh Vinton are the five finalists named by the Roy Davis Scranton Chapter of PIAA Football Officials.
Pennsylvania
Ticket sold in Pennsylvania worth $1M as Mega Millions swells to $1.15B for post-Christmas draw
Billionaire dreams continue through Christmas after no ticket purchased in the $1 billion Christmas Eve 2024 Mega Millions draw hit the jackpot.
The jackpot rolled again — this time to $1.15 billion — after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024.
Léelo en español aquí.
Don’t throw away your tickets just yet as one sold in Pennsylvania is worth $1 million, according to Mega Millions.
What were the winning Mega Millions numbers drawn on Christmas Eve?
The Mega Millions draw for Dec. 24, 2024, went like this: The white balls drawn were 11, 14, 38, 45 and 46, plus the gold Mega Ball 3.
Ticket sold in Pennsylvania strikes $1 million prize
In total, fours tickets sold matched all five white balls, but missed the gold Mega Ball, the lottery said. Those tickets sold in California, Missouri, Wyoming and Pennsylvania are worth $1 million a piece.
NBC10 has reached out to Pennsylvania Lottery to find out where the Keystone State winner was sold. However, the state lottery offices are closed for Christmas, so the winning store won’t be revealed until Thursday at the earliest, a spokesperson said.
Nearly 4.3 million tickets sold around the country in Tuesday’s draw matched at least the gold Mega Ball and are worth $2 or more.
Once again, the winning numbers in the Dec. 24, 2024, draw were 11, 14, 38, 45 and 46, with a Mega Ball of 3.
If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700 to speak to a counselor. Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org, and additional resources can be found at NCPG website.
When is the next Mega Millions draw?
Get out $2, jump into office pools and gift tickets to family as the next Mega Millions draw on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, is worth at least $1.15 billion for the annuity and $516.1 million lump sum cash value, Mega Millions said.
That massive jackpot is the fifth largest in the game’s history, Mega Millions said.
“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a Christmas news release. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays – whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or any other way people choose to celebrate the season – than by helping fulfill the dreams that come with a prize like this and prizes that will be won at all levels of the game.”
What are the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot?
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, plus the Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
When did someone last hit the Mega Millions jackpot?
It’s been since Sept. 10, 2024, since a ticket sold in Texas hit all five numbers and the Mega Ball to win an $810 million jackpot.
Good luck!
-
Technology5 days ago
Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps
-
News6 days ago
Novo Nordisk shares tumble as weight-loss drug trial data disappoints
-
Politics6 days ago
Illegal immigrant sexually abused child in the U.S. after being removed from the country five times
-
Entertainment7 days ago
'It's a little holiday gift': Inside the Weeknd's free Santa Monica show for his biggest fans
-
Lifestyle7 days ago
Think you can't dance? Get up and try these tips in our comic. We dare you!
-
Technology1 week ago
Fox News AI Newsletter: OpenAI responds to Elon Musk's lawsuit
-
Technology2 days ago
There’s a reason Metaphor: ReFantanzio’s battle music sounds as cool as it does
-
News3 days ago
France’s new premier selects Eric Lombard as finance minister