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The Republican chairman of a Pennsylvania county that has voted for the ultimate presidential victor in the past four cycles says it is both the enthusiasm of the electorate and the makeup of the area that proves why it is key for both candidates this year.
“In 2016, Erie voted for Trump and in 2020, Erie voted for Biden. And obviously, Pennsylvania went the same direction in ‘16 and ‘20, and the nation did too,” Erie County Republican Party Chair Tom Eddy said in a Thursday interview.
“I look at Erie as being just kind of like this small ‘Little Pennsylvania’,” he said.
“Pennsylvania is a pretty big state and if you look down in the southeastern and the southwest corners, they are pretty industrialized: Pittsburgh; Philadelphia. And then, if you go to the middle of the state: pretty agricultural. And if you look at that Erie, it’s this little stamp up in this northwest corner.”
PA TOWN ROILED BY TALK OF MIGRANT HOUSING IN CIVIL-WAR-ERA ORPHANAGE BUILDING
Boats pass near the Bicentennial Tower in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Photo by Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Eddy noted Erie’s southern half is predominantly agricultural and leans heavily Republican, while the city of Erie in the north, including Pennsylvania’s only beachfront, is heavily Democratic, with purple suburbs in between.
“The city has some major industry. It’s pretty big in plastic industries and tool-and-die, but it also has a pretty large immigrant population: very ethnic, diverse, racially diverse. I mean, everything you see around the entire state is here in this little corner.”
Eddy said he tells candidates who visit his area that if their message can resonate there, it will resonate statewide largely for that reason.
“Erie is unique … in the fact it is able to pick the winners.”
Other than choosing former Secretary of State John Kerry, former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis and former Vice President Al Gore, the county has voted for the…
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