PITTSBURGH — The bus tour that was planned as a kick-off tour on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, instead spent August 18 in tightly controlled stops in Beaver County before leaving for Chicago.
Harris held a brief rally in a private airport hangar, surrounded by her supporters – mostly members of local unions who had traveled to the event by bus – before the vice president visited two retail stores and a telephone switchboard before ending the day at a local Sheetz gas station.
Beaver County, west of Allegheny County and adjacent to the airport, was once a powerful Democratic Party component, full of union families who worked in the steel mills in Aliquippa and Ambridge. As the Democratic Party moved left, voters turned to Republicans. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump won the district by nearly 20 percentage points over Joe Biden.
While some local Democrats said Harris’ move was strategic and meant to show that she wanted to broaden her horizons, others were more cynical, pointing to the tight scrutiny of attendees at the vice president’s scheduled events and the risk she was taking by holding an event in Pittsburgh and potentially facing the pro-Hamas faction of her party, which has become a vocal political force here.
This movement, led by the Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America, reached its peak recently when a proposed ballot measure that would ban Pittsburgh from doing business with companies that have financial ties to Israel sparked accusations of anti-Semitism and put Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey in hot water.
The Pittsburgh branch of the Democratic Socialists of America submitted the petition to the city to put the issue before voters in November.
Gainey’s initial reaction as mayor was one of concern about the consequences of a ban that would disrupt the city’s ability to provide services.
However, Gainey did not publicly object to the ballot question.
When ballot papers were turned in last week, it was discovered that more than a dozen employees of Gainey’s administration had signed the petition, including Maria Montano, his communications director.
Within a few days, Montano resigned from her post.
Since the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, Pittsburgh has become a focal point for pro-Palestinian protests, including an encampment set up on the University of Pittsburgh campus. The city has also become a hotbed of vandalism of synagogues, Jewish businesses and the homes of Jewish residents in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where the massacre of 11 congregants of the Tree of Life synagogue took place nearly six years ago.
Several longtime Democratic strategists in Pennsylvania believe Harris avoided Pittsburgh on all of her stops and stayed near the airport to avoid protesters disrupting her opening tour in a key swing state.
Many Harris supporters expressed disappointment at not being able to see her when she was in Beaver County.
The details of her event were kept under wraps until her arrival—given Beaver County’s distance from the city of Pittsburgh, it was difficult for her supporters to get there in time to see her.
Harris was greeted at the airport by three Pennsylvania congressional Democrats – Senator Bob Casey and Representatives Chris Deluzio and Summer Lee – as well as Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato. Two Harris-Walz buses were there.
Harris greeted her invited supporters to the rhythm of her campaign song “Freedom” by Beyoncé.
An Emerson College Polling/RealClearPennsylvania poll of the state’s presidential race found 49% of voters supporting Trump and 48% supporting Harris. When including undecided voters, Trump extended his lead to 2 percentage points, 51% to 49%. Among third-party candidates on the ballot, the margin was 47% for Trump and 47% for Harris.
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