Working-class Philadelphia Democrats may be planning to vote for former President Trump in November.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday that Pennsylvania's poor wards and neighborhoods are increasingly turning Republican after years of being deeply blue. Ta.
One example cited by the report included 27-year-old Gabriel Lopez, who is registered as a Democrat and voted for Hillary Clinton in her first election in 2016.
He has since changed his registration to Republican and expressed support for Trump.
“Democrats keep saying [Trump] The economy will be weaker, but he's already been president for four years and taxes were lower,” López said. “We're tired of the same politics. We had a different type of player, but we all really loved him.”
The article goes on to say, “Lopez embodies one of the Democrats' biggest problems in Pennsylvania: Philadelphia's working-class voters, once a reliable voting bloc for the party, have shifted to the right in recent years. “I'm doing it,” he added. And they have been disproportionately affected by the rising prices of the past few years, with many blaming Democrats for the problem. ”
Philadelphia, which accounts for 20% of the state's Democratic voters, could be crucial to Vice President Kamala Harris' victory in the state, but the Inquirer reports that the city will likely win in the 2020 election. The city lost the most Democratic voters of any city.
This trend was most pronounced in poorer and less educated areas, and areas with large Latino populations were most active due to economic concerns.
Jim Cohn, a former truck driver and registered Democrat, cited this as a top priority.
“Everything was cheaper when Trump was president,” Cohn said. “Everything is up in the air right now.”
Other Democrats in the area remained optimistic about Harris' chances, but some saw growing support for Trump.
“Many of us have family members who went to prison or went to failing schools. We don't trust the government,” said Alvarez Febo, a Democrat who plans to vote for Harris. he said. “Some people are liars like Trump, but for some people it's like, 'You know what?' He's just expressing what we feel.”
“They say Kamala will save our democracy,” Febo added. “It makes little sense for people who can’t keep the lights on.”
In contrast, some Republicans were very optimistic about the potential for political change in the city.
“When I first entered politics in 1978, the management was Republican. No one votes the way their boss votes,” said Charlie O'Connor, 45th District Republican Leader. said. “Right now, most people in the management class vote Democratic, and no one votes like their bosses do. So it's flipped. Most of the bosses are Democrats, and the Democrats are It has become a party of the upper middle class.”
Pennsylvania is considered one of the most competitive states in this presidential election.
According to a Fox News poll, Harris and Trump held the same share of voters in the state at 49%. Trump won Pennsylvania in the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, but lost the state to President Biden in 2020.
