PITTSBURGH — Saturday is a busy day for politics in Pennsylvania.
Former President Donald Trump will be holding a rally Saturday night in Butler County. It’s his fifth campaign stop in Pennsylvania this year.
Meanwhile – First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will be speaking at an event in Pittsburgh, her second visit to the city since June.
On the other side of the state in Philadelphia, Vice President Kamala Harris will also be campaigning Saturday.
“For the first time now, or at least for the first time in a long time, Pennsylvania is a go-to state,” said Fr. John Sawicki, professor of Political Science at Duquesne University.
Sawicki said both campaigns are sending a clear message.
“It says Pennsylvania is an absolute priority,” Sawicki told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.
Sawicki notes just how close both the 2016 and 2020 races were in the Commonwealth. Trump won the state in 2016 by about 68,000 votes.
Biden flipped PA four years later, winning by just about 80,000 votes in 2020.
“So just a few thousand votes are there, whether or not that describes a toss-up though is another question,” Sawicki said.
Sawicki said both candidates and their campaigns need to make their case to those few thousand so-called “swing voters” in six battleground states – Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Campaigning here early – before either party’s national convention – and often – means we’re likely to see several more big campaign stops before a vote is cast for either candidate.
“Pennsylvania will be one of those places that will receive an astonishing amount of personal attention,” Sawicki said. “It’s incredibly exciting for Pennsylvanians.”
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