by Hailey Gomez
NBC National Political reporter Steve Kornacki warned Sunday that the Democratic Party is losing ground in registration numbers and Latino voters, which could cost Vice President Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania.
Swing state polls show that a tight race between Harris and former President Donald Trump, with political experts constantly noting how close the competition is. During the “Meet the Press” meeting, Kornacki stated that despite Harris’s slight lead over Trump nationally, Trump has a chance to win the 2024 election based on how key swing states vote.
“If Trump wins Georgia, where he leads in the point average by a point and a half – if he wins North Carolina, where he is literally tied in the polls right now and where Trump won in 2020 – this will be the only one of these battleground states that Trump carried in four years ago,” Kornacki said. “Then all Trump would need, in addition to Georgia and North Carolina, is Pennsylvania, where Harris currently has a slight lead in the averages. But Trump getting those three would give him 270 years. That’s why it’s vital for him and Democrats to block this path for Trump in Pennsylvania.
The NBC reporter highlighted that the number of registered Democrats in Pennsylvania has been reduced “by two-thirds” since 2016, then discussed the key counties where Democrats need to do well to win the state.
“You look at party registration in Pennsylvania and look at this: When Donald Trump first came on the scene, in 2016, the Democratic advantage and party registration in Pennsylvania was over 900,000 votes [in] 2020. Look now, in 2024, that number will be reduced by two-thirds, to 330,000. Since Kamala Harris took control of registration, there has been some escalate in the popularity of Democrats, but the overall trend is more competition for Republicans in party registration,” Kornacki explained .
“Believe it or not, under Trump, there are only 10 counties in the entire state where Democrats are doing better now than they were before Trump arrived. However, some of these counties are very large. “Concentrate on these four counties right next to Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Bucks – that’s where over one-fifth of the statewide votes will come from,” Kornacki continued.
Kornacki added that former President Barack Obama won in Pennsylvania, noting that Democrats currently have an advantage in the suburbs. However, the NBC reporter pointed out that despite Harris’ advantage over college-educated suburban voters, Trump made gains in rural counties and narrowed the margin in the state, as did Latino voters more and more addictive towards him.
“Some people call it the Latin Belt of Pennsylvania. “These are counties that have small, mid-sized cities with rapidly growing Latino populations, and we’re talking about an improvement for Trump among Latino voters compared to 2020 and 2016,” Kornacki said.
“Here are some of the towns in this Latino strip of Reading, Pennsylvania – 70% Latino. Now in 2020 it was overwhelmingly Democratic. Joe Biden won by 45 points, but look at this,” Kornacki concluded. “This is a drop of almost 20 points compared to 2012. Hazleton, Pennsylvania, more than 60% of Latinos and Democrats won narrowly – now Trump’s double-digit margin. “Allentown has gone to the margins of the Democrats.”
“The latest average polls by RealClearPolling shows Trump with a slim lead of 0.06 to 1.5 points in Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, while Harris leads by a slim 0.7 to 1.1 point in Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan. Additionally, according to RealClearPolling, average data shows that the two political leaders are currently tied in Pennsylvania.
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Hailey Gomez is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
