Former President Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania and NBC News projects, capturing 19 Electoral College votes in the race’s most contentious battleground.
Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris is only the second by a Republican in a presidential race in Pennsylvania since 1988. Trump was the only other Republican candidate to win the state when he won it in 2016. It also marks the first time a Republican has won a top race in the Keystone State since Trump’s victory that year.
Carrying Pennsylvania puts Trump one step closer to regaining the White House, four years after he lost the state to Joe Biden. He and MAGA-affiliated candidates, including former Rep. Lou Barletta, Sen. Doug Mastriano and famed physician Mehmet Oz, had otherwise failed to win high-profile races in the swing state over the past eight years.
Both Trump and Harris spent more time and resources in Pennsylvania than in any other state during the campaign. Trump scored victories in Erie and Northampton counties, which are considered among the most critical indicators in the state. He also performed better in red counties in the western part of the state, long a major source of Republican votes in Pennsylvania.
NBC News exit polls showed Trump winning 57% of Latinos in the state, after 2020 exit polls showed him winning just 27% of Pennsylvania’s Latino vote. Another key element of his victory: 50% of independent voters support him this time, compared to 44% in 2020.
Although Harris appeared more often in the state after entering the race and spent more money there than Trump, it was not enough. A woman has never won a top race in the state. Some Pennsylvania insiders believed she was starting at a disadvantage compared to other battleground states because she lacked Biden’s longstanding political connections in the state.
Meanwhile, officials on both sides of the aisle, especially in Pennsylvania, believed Harris would secure her victory in Pennsylvania by tapping Josh Shapiro, the state’s popular governor, as her running mate. Her decision not to name him will now be subject to further questioning, even as he said in a statement that he had reservations about the job after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was selected.
Trump, meanwhile, chose his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, because of his Rust Belt ties and what he and his allies felt was an ability to connect with certain voters they hoped to bring to the polls in western Pennsylvania. .
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
