Philly Inquirer Report Finds Shift In Some Of The Cities Neighborhoods
Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House is facing a major hurdle: working-class voters in Philadelphia, a historically stronghold for Democrats, are showing signs of drifting toward Donald Trump and the GOP. This shift could spell disaster for Harris, particularly in Pennsylvania, where she needs a large turnout in cities like Philadelphia to secure a win.
One such voter, Gabriel Lopez, a resident of the deeply Democratic Kensington neighborhood, epitomizes the growing frustration among working-class voters. Lopez, who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he plans to vote for Trump in the upcoming election. “We’re tired of the same politics,” Lopez explained.
His rationale is rooted in economic issues—he recalled lower taxes under Trump and expressed dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party’s inability to improve living conditions in his community. Rising prices and economic strain have hit working-class neighborhoods hard, and for many, the blame is laid at the feet of Democrats.
Lopez’s sentiments are far from isolated. Since 2016, Pennsylvania’s working-class voters—particularly those without college degrees—have steadily shifted right. Trump’s populist messaging and focus on jobs and economic issues appealed to many of these voters, helping him secure Pennsylvania in 2016 and perform better than expected in 2020.
Trump won just 15% of the vote in Philadelphia in 2016 but increased that to 18% in 2020, reflecting his growing support among blue-collar workers. Despite losing Pennsylvania in 2020, Trump’s inroads with this demographic could prove pivotal in 2024, especially against Harris, whose policies may struggle to resonate with voters hit hardest by inflation and economic instability.
Philadelphia is crucial for Harris, as a significant portion of Pennsylvania’s Democratic electorate lives there. Yet, Democrats have been losing ground in many of the city’s 66 wards, with Biden performing worse than Clinton in 2020 across a majority of them. Harris will need to reverse this trend if she hopes to secure Pennsylvania, but the growing disillusionment among working-class voters presents a daunting challenge. If Harris fails to win back these voters or if the trend continues, Pennsylvania could slip through her fingers, as it nearly did for Biden in 2020.
What’s more troubling for Harris is that the erosion of support for Democrats among blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania is not an isolated issue. Rising inflation, coupled with perceptions that Democratic policies have failed to address the needs of working Americans, has pushed many of these voters into Trump’s camp.
The GOP’s appeal to economic frustrations, along with Trump’s rhetoric that he represents a break from “politics as usual,” has found a receptive audience among voters like Lopez, who are weary of the status quo.
In a state where elections are often decided by razor-thin margins, this shift could be devastating for Harris. Biden managed to scrape by in 2020, but the warning signs were already clear: a growing number of traditionally Democratic voters were abandoning the party. If Harris cannot reverse these trends, her path to victory in Pennsylvania—and the presidency—becomes far more difficult.