JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania’s status as a key swing state in recent presidential elections, Johnstown’s Rust Belt history and the region’s rich political history have made the city a popular stop for candidates on the campaign trail.
Since 2004, at least nine candidates for president or vice president have held events in the city: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Trump, the Republican nominee for this year’s election, will appear again on Friday for a rally at the 1st Summit Arena @ Cambria County War Memorial, where he will face Democratic nominee for Vice President Kamala Harris.
It is the former president’s third visit to the region, following previous visits in 2016 and 2020.
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Karen Sergison left her home in Michigan and arrived in Johnstown at 1:30 a.m. Thursday, joining the line more than a day ahead of former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in the city.
“Johnstown is kind of an iconic representation of the Rust Belt, and the steel town that had its heyday and the voters who felt left out,” said Ray Wrabley, a political science professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown. “The flood history of Johnstown is something that’s nationally known, so we get candidates who come here to deliver a message and get some traction for their message to those kinds of voters.”
Robert Gleason Jr., a committee member and former chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, said Trump’s visit is “great for Johnstown because we’ll be the center of the world on Friday.”
Cambria County Democratic Party Chair Nina Licastro and Johnstown Mayor Frank Janakovic, a Democrat, spoke about the benefits of having a leading candidate visit the city, regardless of political affiliation.
“When we bring a well-known dignitary to our city who attracts thousands of visitors, it’s good for Johnstown and the businesses,” Janakovic said.
Licastro said that “both sides, whether it’s yours or the other side, it just creates excitement. You’re just so excited because people are coming to you. They’re coming to you to talk about your problems. You hope that they will.”
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Pennsylvania, with 19 electoral college votes, is widely considered one of the most prized and hotly contested swing states. Candidates and their surrogates have campaigned intensively in the Commonwealth in recent months.
“Pennsylvania is probably the key of the seven swing states that are in play,” Wrabley said. “There are going to be voters in many states that are deep blue (Democratic) and deep red (Republican) that are not going to see a presidential candidate. They are not going to see a vice presidential candidate. They are not even going to see TV ads. So what we are seeing here is the fact that Pennsylvania is important, and it is so competitive; it is so close.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris returns to Pennsylvania on Monday and, for the first time during her presidential campaign, she will be joined by President Joe Biden.
Gleason said the presidential race “really comes down to just a few people.”
“We’re down to five or six states,” Gleason said. “As someone said to me, a hundred thousand people in five states are going to decide who’s going to be the next president of the United States, and we’ve got 330 million people. That’s just the way it is. That’s the system.”
