In a near duplicate of his 2016 trajectory, Donald Trump tore down the proclaimed Blue Barrier in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, arising as the second president ever to secure a second nonconsecutive tenure. Pennsylvania played the pivotal role among the seven swing states in the Nov. 5 presidential election; unlike the 2020 saga, it was earmarked for Trump shortly after the dawning of the following day.
Regarded as a classic working-class ensemble, Pennsylvania’s clear disapprobation of the Democrats’ disconnected policies, linguistics, and image shed light on the party’s divergence from its working-class roots. Interviews underline how the party was deemed out of touch with people who get up every morning to earn their livelihood.
Out of approximately 6.9 million ballots, over half (50.5%) were cast in favor of Trump, totaling around 3.5 million votes, while Kamala Harris secured nearly 3.4 million votes, equating to 48.5%. A study by USA Today revealed Trump inflating his 2020 backing in 65 of the state’s 67 counties, excluding Greene and Allegheny, procuring nearly an additional 148,000 votes.
In stark juxtaposition, Harris lost the allegiance of roughly 64,000 voters, due to weakening turnout in major metropolitan locales, Philadelphia County coming under notable spotlight. Philadelphia alone saw a dwindling of more than 36,000 votes, while Trump managed to rake in an additional sum of over 11,400.
Adjacent Bucks and Montgomery counties followed suit, with Harris forfeiting an additional count of 8,800 votes in each. Meanwhile, Trump mustered 9,600 and 10,300 extra votes respectively, when compared with the numbers from four years prior.
Contrary to convention, Trump, who was known to harbor skepticism regarding mail-in voting’s reliability, saw a 10% surge in this specific category. This amounted to a total of 65,000 votes. Meanwhile, Harris observed a decline of 37%, equating to a whopping 743,250 mail-in votes, notwithstanding her 50% rise in same-day votes amounting to 709,517.
Experts deduced that Trump bolstered his voter counts in almost all areas except the vast cosmopolitan districts of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. This should have been a warning sign for Democrats prior to 2024, highlighting that the entire state couldn’t be won without prioritizing vast rural landscapes, akin to Trump’s successful strategy.
Trump turned Erie and Northampton counties to his favor. An interesting pattern emerged in just 16 of the vast multitude of American counties that switched between Democrats and Republicans in the past four elections, only to finally settle on Trump in 2024. Two additional counties, Bucks and Monroe, embraced Trump after siding with a previous Democratic candidate in 2020.
Drawn on a national scale, Democrats witnessed alarming dips in their support base as opposed to Republicans. Reasons behind this significant shift were attributed to an extensive spectrum covering demographic divisions. Trump achieved noticeable enhancement of his vote share among Latino, Hispanic, Black, and young voters.
Despite his slender lead, the culmination of Trump’s victory in the Electoral College and the popular vote, a feat no Republican has managed in the past two decades, was remarkable. The competitive nature of GOP victories across swing states warrants acknowledgment that a voter mandate was likely not provided.
Fueling his Pennsylvania base, Trump’s focus on mundane yet impactful issues like fuel prices resonated with the electorate. His ability to connect on these ‘bread-and-butter’ issues appeared to strike a chord with rural constituencies. On the contrary, Kamala Harris seemed inadequately prepared and less connected with the masses.
While Harris only entered the equation by mid-July, hurriedly sifting through vice presidential candidates and securing delegate support, Trump resonated with everyday issues affecting average Joe. Moreover, her stance on the Israel-Hamas crisis potentially lost her substantial support, particularly in geographies like Michigan.
On social fronts, Trump robustly contested Harris over matters like transgender rights, including their participation in women’s sports and federal funding for gender-affirming healthcare for federal inmates. Many believe that these discussions transcended the mere political arena to encompass societal debates about varying interpretations of gender roles and norms.