With Pennsylvania potentially being a “tipping point” in the 2024 presidential election, according to an analysis of elections and polls, and the race is heating up, CNN wondered whether Vice President Kamala Harris' choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro could be a determining factor in Harris' performance in the state.
CNN's Harry Enten described the “tightly contested race in Pennsylvania” as crucial to the outcome of the election, and noted that Shapiro has a 59% approval rating in the state.
“After all, if Kamala Harris loses Pennsylvania, that's the tipping point state that Mr. Trump expects.” [John] “In a state that gave Donald Trump a landslide victory in the Electoral College, there's going to be serious questions about whether Kamala Harris should have picked Josh Shapiro given his popularity in Pennsylvania,” Berman said. “If she'd picked Shapiro instead of Tim Walz, would she have won? I don't know the answer to that question, I don't know who's going to win Pennsylvania, but it's definitely a question I'm asking now as the polls in Pennsylvania get increasingly close.”
Local Pennsylvania reporter told by Harris campaign not to “disrupt” Tim Walz event
Harry Enten analyzes the presidential polls. (CNN)
Political analyst warns Harris could lose key battleground states: 'Almost certain she won't win'
“A month ago you had the New York Times polling Harris +4, Quinnipiac University polling Harris +3, Franklin and Marshall College polling Harris +3, and guess what, if you look at the polls that have come out in the last week or so? It's a lot closer, the CBS/YouGov poll is a tie, the CNN SSRS poll is a tie,” he said.
Harris was projected to win Pennsylvania, with the vice president expected to receive 270 votes and Donald Trump 268. If Trump wins the state, he will have 287 electoral votes to Harris' 251.
“To me, this is part of an emerging pattern that's very important,” he said of the data. “What we're seeing is that Harris had a slight lead, but within the margin of error, the results are so close at this point that it's shaping up to be a close race.”
