Tim Walz campaigns on freedom in Pennsylvania’s bellwether Northampton County

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz returned to Pennsylvania on Saturday and rallied over 3,000 supporters in Northampton County, a bellwether county that has correctly voted for the presidential winner in the previous four elections. 

With freedom on the minds of Democratic voters, over 3,000 Kamala Harris supporters packed Freedom High School’s auditorium on Saturday in Bethlehem Township to hear Coach Tim Walz. 

“Hello Pennsylvania, I’m starting to feel like a neighbor from Sheetz to Wawa and everywhere in between,” Walz greeted the crowd in his opening remarks. 

Walz delivered an hour-long speech on Saturday, criticizing Republicans for stripping freedoms away from Americans. 

“It’s pretty obvious to us that Donald Trump and JD Vance do not share our values in any way. They do not share our values,” Walz said.

“Now I see some of the older folks here can actually remember, and it’s like telling the young people, there was a time when Republicans talked about freedom, they actually meant it. In the long-ago time it feels like.”

“Because right now when they talk about freedom, the freedom of government to be able to invade your bedroom, the freedom of government to invade your exam room, the freedom of government to invade your school libraries and take it. Look, they spend a lot of damn time trying to ban books. We spend our time in Minnesota banning hunger by giving free meals to our kids.”

Saturday’s trip to the Lehigh Valley was Walz’s fourth trip to the Keystone State since Harris’ strong debate performance against Donald Trump earlier this month and it continues the campaign’s strategy of traveling to the commonwealth’s pivotal battleground regions. 

Northampton County is no different. 

A recent poll by Suffolk University / USA Today found that Harris is leading Trump by 5% in the important bellwether county that has a track record of picking the winners of the previous four elections. 

“Our district, Pennsylvania 7th, is the third-largest region in Pennsylvania, but if you don’t win our district, you don’t win Pennsylvania. It’s that simple,” Congresswoman Susan Wild told the crowd. 

“That may sound kind of like hyperbole, it is not. Northampton County is a bellwether county. Most of you probably have heard by now because all the news media has been talking about it. Northampton County voted for Obama, Obama, Trump, Biden and fill-in-the-blank this year.”

State Rep Josh Siegel (D-Northampton) told The Keystone that he believes the Harris campaign’s strategy of traveling to places outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh stick with voters. 

“I think the candidates that do really well here are the ones that campaign in the pockets of the state where I think maybe historically Democratic constituencies feel like they’ve been neglected or they haven’t gotten as much attention,” Siegel said.

“I think the thing I hear most of all, honestly, beyond the issues, is general fatigue about just the constant state of crisis in our politics. It’s been nearly a decade of Donald Trump, and I think people are honestly burnt out on the perpetual crisis and peril of this MAGA movement that just makes everyday feel like just perennial anxiety. I think people want to get back to a sense of normalcy and government that is just competent, trustworthy, responsible and serious.”

In an effort to reach out to the Lehigh Valley’s Latino community, Walz was joined by “The Bear” Emmy-award winning actress Liza Colon-Zayas and “Hamilton” Grammy-winning actor Anthony Ramos. 

“Just last Sunday I was on stage at the Emmys because I became the first Latina to win an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy for playing Tina on The Bear. 76 years and I’m the first,” Colon-Zayas said. 

“Now that I know something about making history, I am here to tell you that we can make history again by sending Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz to the White House.”