Central PA Democrats feel rejuvenated by Kamala Harris

Pennsylvania Democrats are feeling energized with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket. Voters are showing unprecedented levels of enthusiasm, too.  

With a little more than 100 days to go until November’s presidential election, Democratic voters across Pennsylvania are feeling rejuvenated following the change at the top of the ticket. 

President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he would not seek a second term and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Trump in the fall. 

Since then, Harris has cemented herself as the party’s presumptive nominee and shattered a single day fundraising record, raising over $81 million in her first 24 hours as a candidate. And in Pennsylvania, Democrats are signing up in droves to volunteer for her presidential campaign. 

“I would say the last 48 hours has been a record in terms of getting volunteers,” Stella Sexton, chair of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, said in an interview. 

“I’m getting personal messages, texts from friends who normally are not regular volunteers going ‘how could I get involved.’ People are fired up, they’re ready to do this,” Sexton said. “I would say the reporting you’ve seen about the financial contributions, that same level of enthusiasm exists on the ground for people wanting to get involved. It’s unprecedented.”

“But with Kamala Harris stepping up, it makes sense, and people are coming out of the sidelines,” she continued.” People who never wanted to vote with a Trump-Biden rematch, they’re coming out because they believe in something and it is palpable.” 

The Harris campaign had more than 2,500 Pennsylvania residents sign up to volunteer after its first day, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. It was by far the single-best day for the campaign in terms of voters signing up to volunteer for the campaign. 

State Rep. Patty Kim (D-Dauphin), the first Asian American to serve in the Pennsylvania House and a candidate for Pennsylvania State Senate, said the momentum filtering through from the national campaign to downballot races has been “indescribable” since Harris became the favored candidate.   

“We were all worried with President Biden, his health and what’s going to happen next,” Kim told The Keystone following a press conference in Harrisburg on Wednesday. 

“But with Kamala Harris stepping up, it makes sense, and people are coming out off the sidelines. People who never wanted to vote with a Trump-Biden rematch, they’re coming out because they believe in something and it is palpable.” 

Gov. Josh Shapiro has also emerged as a potential candidate for vice president in the coming days or weeks, further exciting some Pennsylvanians. Shapiro, who is one of Pennsylvania’s most popular governors in the past 30 years, has had an outpouring of support from his party members and elected officials. 

“It makes perfect sense to have Josh Shapiro as vice president,” Kim told reporters. “You cannot win the presidency without Pennsylvania.”