Trump Rebuilds Democrats' 'Blue Wall' States With Red Bricks

Republicans landed historic victories in Pennsylvania this week, winning battleground state's valuable presidential electoral votes, posting a two-seat gain in its US House delegation and sweeping all four statewide offices on ballot, including a US Senate seat.

strong performance means Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania in two out of three tries, after Republicans h lost six straight presidential elections re.

Trump's Continued Success in "Blue Wall" States

Something similar happened in or “blue wall” states of Michigan and Wisconsin, Rust Belt states where Trump prevailed again after losing in 2020. Still, Democrats held on in key Senate races in Wisconsin and Michigan, if just barely, and results played out differently in each state.

Republican victories were most prounced in Pennsylvania, a state flagged early on as this year's preeminent swing state, where deep dissatisfaction surfaced with status quo, more often than t to Republicans' benefit. Voters h ecomy on ir minds.

Voters Were In A B Mood 

About a third of voters nationwide, including in blue wall states, said y felt ir families were “falling behind” financially, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. That was an increase from 2020, when about 2 in 10 felt that way. In 2020, a majority of those financially strapped voters voted for President Joe Biden , but this year, about two-thirds supported Trump. 

Berwood Yost, director of Centre for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, said Democrats h a lot working against m among swing voters: ir deteriorating personal finances, fuelled by inflation, and sense that many blamed Biden.

Yost said Vice President Kamala Harris ran a strong campaign but was unable to overcome those hewinds. “ mood of electorate was so negative, y took it out on incumbent party," Yost said.

Some voters' memories of Trump's presidency improved with pass of time. VoteCast shows just 40 per cent of Pennsylvania voters said y approve of Biden's job performance, while 54 per cent said y approved of Trump when he was president. Four years ago, Trump approval in Pennsylvania was 49 per cent.

In his victory over Harris, Trump won Pennsylvania by about 2 per cent, with votes still being counted. That was about three times margin of his 2016 victory. He lost Pennsylvania by just over 1 per cent in 2020 to Biden.

Trump carried Wisconsin by less than a point, as he did in 2016, after losing it by about a half percent point in 2020. In Michigan, Trump won by about 80,000 — many times his nearly 11,000-vote win in 2016 and about half margin of his loss to Biden in 2020.

In Pennsylvania, Trump gained ground in Democratic-friendly counties statewide, including Democratic bastion of Philelphia and heavily populated suburbs that swung hard against Trump in 2016 and 2020. In Trump-friendly exurbs and rural areas, his margins grew across board.

His strength also helped David McCormick beat three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, Republicans say, allowing m to reclaim Senate seat GOP lost in 2022 when Democrat John Fetterman replaced retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

In dition, a two-seat pickup shifted state's congressional delegation from 9-8 in favor of Democrats to a 10-7 Republicans majority, giving GOP a valuable boost in its fight to keep House control. 

And for first time since state attorney general's office became an elected position in 1980, Republicans will hold all three statewide row offices. That includes treasurer, auditor general and attorney general, a position thrust into national spotlight four years ago when Trump sued to overturn his 2020 defeat.

Legislative seats were virtually unchanged: Republicans expected to hold ir state Senate majority and hoped to undo Democrats' one-seat state House majority.

With more Republicans at Capitol, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro — who me Harris' list of finalists for vice president — could be under more pressure to work across aisle. Trump visited Pennsylvania more than any or state and often brought downballot Republicans on st.

Trump survived an assassination attempt in western Pennsylvania over summer — n returned re for a second rally — and drew a crowd to a McDonald's in a politically divided Philelphia suburb where he donned an apron and tried his hand at French fry station.

Trump campaigned in conservative white areas, in heavily Black Philelphia and in a fast-growing belt of cities from Lancaster to Reing to Allentown where Latis are settling, and AP VoteCast showed that he benefited from modest swings among tritionally Democratic voters.

Across country, and in Pennsylvania, clear majorities of Black and Lati voters supported Harris, but slightly more of m backed Trump this year compared with four years ago.

“I told Donald Trump in 2015 when he asked what do I have to do to win Pennsylvania,' I said, come here a lot, Pennsylvanians like to kw ir candidates,'” said Rob Gleason, who was state GOP chairman at time.

In Wisconsin And Michigan, Republicans Gained But t As Much 

Democrats h a much better night in Wisconsin than in or “blue wall” states, despite Trump's victory. Trump cut into Democratic margins in counties around Milwaukee and Mison, and held or boosted his margins in rural areas, suburbs and or conservative areas.

“re were a lot of people who didn't think we could do this,” Wisconsin Republican Party chair Brian Schimming said. “That blue brick in that blue wall is w red in Wisconsin.” Still, Democrats were buoyed by US Sen. Tammy Baldwin's narrow victory, and newly enacted legislative maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers helped his party.

y me gains in both state Senate and Assembly, shrinking Republican Senate supermajority to a simple majority.

In Michigan, Harris carried Wayne County, which includes Detroit and suburbs with heavy Arab American populations, but by a far slimmer margin — about 90,000 votes — than Biden's. Meanwhile, Trump boosted his margins by more than 55,000 votes in two or big suburban counties, Macomb and Oakland.

Democrat Elissa Slotkin narrowly won Michigan's open US Senate seat, but Democrats lost House seat she vacated to run for higher chamber. Meanwhile, y lost ir state House majority, ending a two-year run in which a Democratic-controlled statehouse enacted new laws on gun safety, abortion rights and or top priorities.

Republicans say Trump's embrace of early voting and emphasis on inflation and immigration was effective. In Pennsylvania, some Democrats said Harris should have picked Shapiro to be her running mate. Ors suggested Biden, who grew up in Pennsylvania and me it his presidential campaign base, would have done better. 

Former Gov. Ed Rendell questioned wher Harris' campaign effectively responded to attacks in nation's . 2 natural gas state that she would ban fracking. Two-thirds of Pennsylvania voters support expanding fracking, according to VoteCast.

Larry Maggi, a Democratic county commissioner in blue-collar Washington County, just outside Pittsburgh, said Harris didn't connect with people — particularly men, and especially young white men — way Trump did.

“That bravo talk, that tough talk, people like that,” Maggi said. “It resonated.” A Marine Corps veteran, Maggi recalled a conversation over a beer in a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall with a friend who was wearing a red MAGA hat.

Maggi asked him why he likes Trump.

“Because he tells it how it is,” friend replied.