Trump desperately needs positive momentum to come his way in this presidential race. And he might’ve just gotten it.
As this massive election news out of a key swing state has Donald Trump grinning ear to ear.
In the traditionally Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a significant shift is underway as working-class voters increasingly lean toward former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. This change is a testament to the frustrations many feel with the current state of politics and the economy.
“Democrats keep saying [Trump] is going to bring down the economy, but he was already president for four years, and taxes were lower,” Gabriel Lopez, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, shared with the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’re tired of the same politics. We got a different type of guy, and the people actually love him.”
Lopez’s sentiments reflect a broader trend in the city, where the Democratic Party, despite having a 7-to-1 voter advantage over Republicans, is losing ground among a key group of voters. The realignment isn’t limited to Philadelphia; it’s part of a larger national shift that has been brewing since 2016.
Historically, the Republican Party was seen as the party of big business. However, recent years have seen a shift, with the Democratic Party now taking on that role, aligning itself with globalism and “democracy,” in a reshaping of political identities that harks back to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
This shift, paired with rising costs of living, stagnant wages, and the impact of offshored manufacturing jobs, has made Trump’s economic policies, such as tariffs and a focus on border security, particularly appealing to working-class voters, especially in the Rust Belt.
As the Inquirer reports, “Lopez embodies one of Democrats’ biggest problems in Pennsylvania: working-class voters in Philadelphia, a once reliable voting bloc for the party, have drifted right in recent years.” The article highlights how these voters have been hit hard by inflation, a situation they largely attribute to Democratic policies.
Polling supports this shift. Non-white identification with Democrats is at its lowest level since the 1960s, when the civil rights movement cemented Black voter support for the party. According to Financial Times columnist John Burn-Murdoch, “In 2020 the richest third of voters favoured the Dems for the first time, and the Republicans improved with the poorest. The GOP now appeals to working- and middle-class voters of all ethnicities.”
Jim Kohn, a retired truck driver and lifelong Democrat from South Philly, is among those planning to vote for Trump. “When Trump was president, everything was cheaper,” Kohn said. “Now, everything is so sky high.” His perspective echoes the sentiments of many in his neighborhood.
Republican leaders in Philadelphia are optimistic about this trend. Charlie O’Connor, a prominent figure in the 45th Ward, predicts a much stronger performance for the GOP in the city compared to 2020. Since 2023, Republican voter registration has surged, with over 10,300 new registrants, surpassing the 9,800 new Democratic registrants, according to the Department of State.
Reflecting on the shift, O’Connor pointed out how the political landscape has flipped over the decades. “When I first started in politics in 1978, the managerial class was Republican — no one votes the way their bosses vote,” he recalled.
“Now, most people in the managerial class vote Democratic, and no one is voting the way their boss is. So it’s been a flip. Most of the bosses are Democrats, and the Democratic Party has become the party of the upper middle class.”
Ultimately, the core issue for many voters, according to O’Connor, is simple: “The question you ask at the door — doesn’t matter, Black, white — is: are you better off than you were four years ago? That’s the universal message. And people aren’t.”
This is The Philadelphia Inquirer this morning 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/SsVR9KzgYv
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) October 2, 2024
Kamala Harris’s Need for Pennsylvania
Vice President Harris has little to no path to the presidency without the state of Pennsylvania.
She must carry the state and it’s 19 electoral votes if she wants to be in the Oval Office in January.
But with more and more residents in deep blue Philadelphia claiming their support of Donald Trump, Harris’s odds at winning the Keystone State are looking more and more slim.
Of course there’s still plenty of time before the election, but you have to think Kamala Harris and her team are absolutely panicking right now.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
