Pennsylvania

Republicans seek votes among the Amish, who rarely cast them, in Pennsylvania

Published

1 year ago

October 28, 2024

Republicans seek votes among the Amish, who rarely cast them, in Pennsylvania

On its own, that cannot come close to flipping a state that went for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 by about 80,000 votes.

Of course, the Amish are hardly the only religious or ethnic constituency being courted by candidates. “In a context where every vote counts, every vote counts,” Nolt said. “But no, we’re not talking tens of thousands of Amish votes.”

Still, Smucker is optimistic about a larger turnout. He said Republican messages resonate with a changing Amish community.

“It was once more agrarian, but they’ve long ago run out of land in Lancaster County,” he said. Only a minority are still in farming, with many starting small businesses, where the Republican emphasis on limited regulation is appealing. Plus, he said, the Amish community perceives Republicans as more friendly to religious liberty and opposed to abortion.

He said Amish tell stories of how their forebears were more likely to vote in the 1950s during controversies about compulsory school policies, but the practice has decreased since then.

Wayne Wengerd, Ohio state director of the Amish Steering Committee, which navigates relations between Amish community leaders and government officials, recalls registration efforts as far back as the 1960s. Get-out-the-vote activists are “going to go after everyone and anyone they think they could possibly convince to vote for their party,” he said. “The Amish are no different.”

Amish theology keeps the church separate from government

But most Amish avoid voting in keeping with “two-kingdom” theology, which puts a stark separation between earthly government and the church with its focus on a heavenly kingdom. They see themselves “being citizens primarily in another kingdom,” Wengerd said.

But, he noted, some still vote. “The Amish are just like any other people,” he said. “Not everyone thinks the same.”

Rural Lancaster County has for generations voted Republican, Nolt said, and so it’s also not surprising that any Amish who do vote would be influenced by their neighbors’ preferences. Most Amish voters register as Republicans, he said. .

An ad in a Lancaster-area newspaper, attributed to an anonymous “Amishman” from Ohio, said refusing to vote would violate Scripture by failing to “stand against evil” while “every good thing our nation stands for is destroyed.” A voicemail message seeking comment, left with the phone number on the ad, wasn’t returned.

Nolt said that ad is appealing to a theology more similar to that of mainstream Reformed Protestantism, which says Christians have a duty both to God and country, than to traditional Amish two-kingdom theology.

“It’s very different than anything in historic Amish documents, which would have said responsibility of the church is to be the church,” he said.

Nolt said a letter being sent to Amish residents did call for voting Republican but didn’t appear aimed at the Amish in particular, citing such issues as immigration.

The widespread support for Trump among conservative Christians of many types has long perplexed observers, given his casino ventures, allegations of sexual assault and vulgar public statements.

Nolt, however, said that compared with the Amish’s separatist lifestyles, neither presidential candidate looks much like them — one reason most of them don’t vote. “Donald Trump’s life is very different from an Amish person’s life, but so is Kamala Harris’,” he said.

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro has $30 million for his reelection bid, a new state record

Published

5 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro has million for his reelection bid, a new state record

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro set another campaign finance record for Pennsylvania with $30 million on hand as he seeks a second term this fall, his campaign said Tuesday. Pennsylvania has emerged as the nation’s premier presidential battleground state, and Shapiro’s strong showing in the 2022 governor’s race elevated his profile within the Democratic Party, where he’s viewed as a potential 2028 White House contender. In the general election, Shapiro, 52, is expected to face Stacy Garrity, the twice-elected state treasurer who has been endorsed by the state Republican Party.

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Pennsylvania

3 winning scratch-off lotto tickets totaling $7.5M sold in Pennsylvania

Published

17 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

3 winning scratch-off lotto tickets totaling .5M sold in Pennsylvania

RADNOR TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — Three winning scratch-off tickets totaling $7.5 million were sold in Pennsylvania, lottery officials announced on Monday.

One winning “MONOPOLY Own It All” ticket worth $5 million was sold in Delaware County at the GIANT on the 500 block of East Lancaster Avenue. The grocery store will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

“MONOPOLY Own It All” is a $50 game that offers top prizes of $5 million.

In Erie County, a $1.5 million-winning “Cash Spectacular” scratch-off was purchased at a Sheetz on Perry Highway. “Cash Spectacular” is a $30 game that offers top prizes of $1.5 million.

And in Luzerne County, a $1 million-winning “Millionaire Loading” scratch-off was sold at Schiel’s Family Market in Wilkes-Barre. “Millionaire Loading” is a $20 game that offers top prizes of $1 million.

Scratch-off prizes expire one year from the game’s end-sale date posted at palottery.com.

Winners should immediately sign the back of their ticket and call the Pennsylvania Lottery at 1-800-692-7481.

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Pennsylvania

Where did people move to in 2025? Here’s what U-Haul says and how Pennsylvania ranks

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Where did people move to in 2025? Here’s what U-Haul says and how Pennsylvania ranks

A new report from U-Haul shows where Pennsylvania residents are leaving to and where new residents are coming from in 2025. Here’s what to know about U-Haul’s top 10 states with the most and least growth numbers.

Eight warm weather states made U-Haul’s top 10 growth list for 2025, while eight states in the colder Northeast and Midwest filled out the bottom 10, including Pennsylvania and neighboring New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. Delaware ranked 21 out of 50 states in growth for 2025.

U-Haul also noted besides geography, that seven of the 10 states with the most growth featured Republican governors, nine of which went red in the last presidential election, and 9 out of 10 in the bottom growth states featured Democrat governors, seven of which went blue in the last presidential election.

“We continue to find that life circumstances — marriage, children, a death in the family, college, jobs and other events — dictate the need for most moves,” said John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president in press release. Adding, “But other factors can be important to people who are looking to change their surroundings. In-migration states are often appealing to those customers.”

U-Haul ranks states growth based on their one-way customer transactions that rented trucks, trailers or moving containers in one state and dropped it off in another state. Their growth index included over 2.5 million annual one-way transactions across the United States and Canada.

Texas holds the number one U-Haul growth state for the seventh time in the last 10 years while California ranked last for the sixth year in a how.

Pennsylvania’s growth rank for 2025 remained at a low 46 out of 50 states, same as 2024, and compared relatively similar to its growth numbers over the last 10 years, according to U-Haul’s data, with the exception during 2022-2023 when its highest growth numbers hit 24 out of 50 in 2022 and 38 out of 50 in 2023.

Oregon, Mississippi, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Louisiana and Montana were among the biggest year-over-year gainers in 2025 compared to U-Haul’s 2024 rankings, while Ohio, Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, Delaware and Nebraska saw the biggest drops.

While the national average rent in the U.S. sits at approximately $1,623 per month (0.4% higher than this time last year) the Keystone State boasts a lower rent average at approximately $1,526 per month (1.9% higher than last year), according to Apartments.com. It is ranked 34th least expensive rent by state.

Here’s what to know about Pennsylvania and what states saw the most and least growth in 2025 according to U-Haul.

Top 10 U-Haul growth states of 2025

In 2025 Pennsylvania ranked 46 out of 50 states on growth as reported by U-Haul.

Texas
Florida
North Carolina
Tennessee
South Carolina
Washington
Arizona
Idaho
Alabama
Georgia

U-Haul reported the 10 states with the lowest growth numbers were lead by California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, and Michigan.

Where are Pennsylvania residents moving to and from?

According to the company’s semiannual U.S. migration trends report, based on the one-way rental data after the summer’s high moving season, it revealed that while Pennsylvania remains a top destination, Pennsylvanians are also packing up and heading out. Here’s where they moved to: