It’s been a long year for Pennsylvania voters, filled with intense national media scrutiny, non-stop campaign advertising and near-constant candidate visits and rallies. A battleground state with 19 electoral votes that both campaigns believe is key to winning the White House, Pennsylvania voters are acutely aware of the responsibility they face on Election Day 2024.
We asked a cross-section of Pennsylvania voters for their opinion. Here’s what they told us.
Bruce Hoechner, 64, a retired CEO who lives in Lower Makefield, said he feels “uncomfortable” at the thought that the race is as close as it seems and that Pennsylvania could elect its next president.
“I think it’s astonishing, given the track record of both candidates and Trump’s dysfunction, that half of the people of the United States would consider him fit to be president of the United States,” he said.
“I wish Kamala good luck.”
Hoechner said he went to the Lower Bucks Government Services Center on Monday because he requested an absentee ballot more than two weeks ago that never arrived. So he went to sort it out.
James MullaneThe 23-year-old student, who lives in Middletown, said he is concerned and irritated by the misinformation he sees on the Internet and on television.
He noted that many people seemed confused about receiving mail-in ballots upon request, thinking it meant early voting.
“Technically, we don’t have the ability to vote early,” he said.
But he still saw people calling on-demand mail-in ballots “early voting.”
“No one has really learned anything about how our country works,” he said. His philosophy on elections: “Vote for the name, not the party.”
Pamela FoxThe 72-year-old nonprofit manager who lives in Wrightstown said she was “very, very nervous and terrified” about the election and Pennsylvania’s role in selecting the winner.
“I’m afraid there are too many people in the heartland who support Trump and I think he’s just disgusting,” she said.
“He’s a convicted felon. He is a liar. Promotes violence. It’s like he’s a cult leader. And I just think that would be very unsafe, especially since he’s allied with Elon Musk and several other billionaires in this country. “I think that would be very bad for our democracy.”
Lisa Williams, The 59-year-old Middletown homemaker said she was “a little nervous” about the election.
“I’m a little nervous about what will happen if Trump wins, and I’m a little nervous about what will happen if he loses,” she said.
She added that she was particularly concerned about “how many angry people there might be” if Trump loses. Williams chose to cast her absentee ballot on Monday rather than last week or go to the polls on Tuesday because she doesn’t like crowds.
Jill PetalilloThe 58-year-old Republican from Upper Makefield said she doesn’t feel too good about Pennsylvania’s elections.
“It looks like there were a lot of problems at the various polling stations,” she said. “I don’t know why we haven’t figured this out yet. You know, the lines last week were crazy. Polling places have closed earlier over the past few weeks. So you wonder if it’s intentional or if they just didn’t hire enough volunteers.”
Given all the fuss over absentee ballots and the fact that Pennsylvania is “very unpredictable,” Petalillo said, “it’s a little upsetting that it all comes down to the AP. That’s why it’s so vital to get out and vote.”
Originally from Philadelphia Greg Ahlswede has lived in Scranton for five years. The elections were “exhausting and exhausting,” he said. “Constant mailings, constant text messages, constant phone calls. It all goes into your subconscious, all the time.
On October 25, Ahlswede visited the Scranton Cultural Center to meet with Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
He emphasized that people could focus on other aspects of their lives: work, social life and more.
“It’s really easy to get caught up in the tunnel of news and social media,” he said.
Before Walz took the stage that day, one of the speakers was Scranton Mayor Page Cognetti, who also addressed the stress of the election.
“It’s hand-wringing, oh, hand-wringing,” she said. “Use these hands to knock on the door.”
On the other hand…
But not everyone sees Pennsylvania’s battleground status as a bad thing.
Jessica ReedThe 41-year-old Pittsburgh resident said she felt “sickly optimistic” at a rally for Harris on the eve of Election Day. She said she mostly watches streaming TV, so she has “freed herself” from most of the constant political advertising on TV and cable. “I notice that when I go to my parents’ house who don’t have streaming TV, the commercials are just non-stop,” she said. “But it’s good to be important, it’s a nice feeling.”
Bridget Lavin28, moved to Pittsburgh about two years ago, she said, so 2024 is the first year she’s on the presidential ballot in Pennsylvania.
“I’m so excited to feel like my vote will make a difference,” Lavin said. She said she uses ad blockers on the Internet and also watches streaming TV, so she hasn’t been affected by the onslaught of political ads. “But that Saturday, I was watching SNL live because Harris was on the show, and I got commercial after commercial,” she said. “And I thought to myself, is this what it’s like to live in Pennsylvania and watch TV?”
Susie Guisco Erie, considered a bellwether for the entire state, said at a rally with Bernie Sanders that she and her husband, Conrad Kubaney, 32, take their swing state status seriously. After the first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, in which Biden performed poorly, they were motivated to become more involved in the political process and began to lend a hand.
“It’s too important to be on the sidelines in this election,” she said. “It’s a serious responsibility, but we feel it really matters.”
Christina Collier37, is originally from New Jersey but currently lives in Glassport and said she feels pressured by her battleground status. She said she was afraid because she knew Trump had a lot of supporters and she supported Harris.
“But I know we did the right thing a few years ago,” she said. “I think we will do the right thing again.”
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