PITTSBURGH, November 5, 2024: As Election Day looms, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are projecting confidence, predicting victory as they crisscross Pennsylvania on the final day of a fiercely contested U.S. presidential race.
Harris was unexpectedly elevated to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his re-election bid under mounting pressure from his party.
According to analytics firm AdImpact, more than $2.6 billion has been spent on ads to sway voters since March.
Despite these turbulent events, opinion polls show the race is neck-and-neck, with Trump, 78, and Harris, 60, essentially tied. As a result, the winner may not be known for days after Tuesday’s vote, with Trump already signaling that he will contest any potential defeat, just as he did in the 2020 election.
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Both candidates converged on Pennsylvania on Monday, focusing their efforts on mobilizing voters who have yet to cast their ballots. The state, which holds the largest share of Electoral College votes among the seven battleground states expected to decide the election, is seen as a crucial battleground.
In Pittsburgh, Trump addressed a large crowd in an arena, offering what his campaign called his “final closing message” before Election Day. “We have been waiting four years for this,” Trump declared, referring to his 2024 comeback bid after losing to Biden in 2020. Trump spent much of his speech pushing economic themes, warning that a Harris presidency would bring “economic misery” to the country. “We’re going to win the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it’s going to be over,” he said, before announcing that podcaster Joe Rogan had endorsed him.
Meanwhile, in Allentown, Harris also expressed confidence in her chances, promising to be a president for “all Americans” as she appealed to the city’s large Puerto Rican community, which had been angered by offensive comments made by a comedian at a recent Trump rally. “Tomorrow is Election Day, and the momentum is on our side,” Harris said to cheers from the crowd in Pittsburgh. “We know it is time for a new generation of leadership in America… And make no mistake, we will win.”
Harris’ campaign touted a strong field operation, with volunteers reportedly knocking on hundreds of thousands of doors in key battleground states over the weekend. Internal data showed that undecided voters were increasingly leaning toward Harris, and early voting figures showed an uptick in support among her core coalition of young voters and people of color.
Democratic strategist Tom Bonier, who leads the analytics firm TargetSmart, said early voting data pointed to strong enthusiasm among women, a key demographic for Harris’ campaign. However, Bonier noted that there was little sign of a similar surge in turnout among young men, a group that Trump’s campaign has been focusing on.
As the race nears its conclusion, all eyes are on Pennsylvania, where the outcome could tip the balance of the Electoral College. With both candidates making a final push for every last vote, it is clear that this election will be one of the most closely watched—and contested—presidential races in modern history.
