J.D. Vance has the pedal to the metal during the final sprint toward Election Day.
He’s taking the fight to Democrats where they least expected it.
And J.D. Vance had some terrible news for Democrats that left a crowd cheering.
The road to the White House runs through Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania has become the most important swing state in the Presidential election.
Vice President Kamala Harris faces an almost insurmountable task of reaching 270 Electoral Votes and a victory without the state.
Democrats win statewide races in Pennsylvania by running up massive margins in the state’s two biggest cities, Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh is the type of working-class city that’s tailormade for former President Donald Trump’s message.
Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, has more than 250,000 registered Republican voters, more than any county in Pennsylvania.
Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) fired up supporters during a rally in downtown Pittsburgh.
“We’re going to win Pittsburgh, we’re going to win Pennsylvania, we’re going to make Donald Trump the next President of the United States and it starts right here,” Vance told the crowd.
Trump won’t win Pittsburgh, but how he fares in the city could determine if he wins the states.
Americans for Prosperity Action senior advisor Emily Greene is running a get-out-the-vote operation for Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate David McCormick.
“Allegheny County is such a critical county to overperform in if you’re a Republican candidate statewide,” Greene said.
Trump won about 40% of the vote in Allegheny County when he carried Pennsylvania by about 68,000 votes.
Kamala’s strength versus Trump’s strength in Pennsylvania
Former Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz only got about 34% of the vote in Allegheny County when he lost to U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) in the 2022 Midterm Elections.
Allegheny County Republican Party chair Sam DeMarco told NOTUS his group was trying to turn out low-propensity voters for Trump who usually don’t show up to vote.
“We need to get every single one of these Republicans out to vote, and to vote Trump-Vance,” DeMarco said. “This race is going to be won on the margins, and it’s going to be tight.”
DeMarco emphasizes economic issues and connects them to the local political situation.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato – a Democrat – proposed a property tax hike of nearly 50%.
DeMarco thought that Trump would be able to turn in a strong enough showing in Allegheny County to propel him to victory in Pennsylvania.
“The higher the share of the vote that we can get here, then the greater the chance that the vote we get out of the part of the state between here and Philadelphia puts us over the top,” DeMarco said.
Early Vote Action official Will Austin is working on registering voters in Pittsburgh.
He said that he saw enthusiasm in the city with younger voters for Trump.
“The young people are waking up. I’ve literally been shocked at how many young voters we’ve had come up to us, approach us and want to vote for Donald Trump,” Austin said. “It’s shocking because I didn’t expect to come to downtown Pittsburgh and have so many young folk want to support Trump here.”
If Donald Trump can hold down his losses in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia while running up big margins in the state’s rural areas, he could win Pennsylvania and likely the election.
