OPINION: Pennsylvania, the crowned jewel of the battleground states

This story has been updated to reflect Donald Trump winning Pennsylvania.

The path to the White House for the 2024 election highly depends on the 19 electoral votes from Pennsylvania, which has been called “the crowned jewel” of battleground states. 

Pennsylvania has a rich history of being the deciding factor in presidential elections. After former President Donald Trump’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ extensive campaigning, what will the state's results look like?

The main reason Pennsylvania is so uncertain is the political differences within the state. The two highly populated urban areas, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, favor Democrats. In contrast, the vast majority of the rural regions are dominated by Republicans. Due to its demographics, politics, and economy, the state has also been called a “microcosm of the US as a whole.” 

Pennsylvania has been balanced in recent elections. In 2020, Biden won the state election, securing his victory, and in 2016, Trump came up on top in Pennsylvania, leading him to win the election. The state is so politically even that there has only been one time in the last 40 years that a candidate has won Pennsylvania by double-digits, that candidate being Barack Obama back in 2008.

Both Trump and Harris are aware of the high stakes and how crucial an electoral win in Pennsylvania will be for the White House race. This led both candidates to campaign extensively in the state. 

The polls currently favor Harris. Some factors contributing to her lead include the turnout of Putero Ricans and students in Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania has a large, growing Putero Rican population, positively affecting the Harris Walz campaign. After comedian Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “garbage” at Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally last week, there was an immense amount of backlash from many Latino voters, and Trump even lost an endorsement from Putero Rican singer Nicky Jam.

Though Harris currently has a 12% lead in Pennsylvania, the gap is expected to close after more votes are counted in rural areas. With this being said, I believe that Harris will win the state, though it will be slim.

Starting around 9:00 p.m., Pennsylvania received multiple bomb threats to polling locations and municipal buildings. Currently, there is no credible threat, and Pennsylvania state officials and the FBI are investigating these threats.

Two polling places near West Chester, Pennsylvania locations, remained open until 10 p.m. due to bomb threats. Even more bomb threats have been reported among other swing states.

Harris's 12 % lead in Pennsylvania is gone, and the state keeps flipping back and forth from Trump to Harris. So far, 51 % of the votes in Pennsylvania have been counted. 

As expected, Trump has voiced his baseless claims of voter fraud. Philadelphia election officials have denied Trump’s claims of cheating.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said Cambria County is now hand counting ballots as of 10:50 p.m. after software issues. He adds that the process can “take some time.”

Things are looking bleak for the Harris campaign. As of 1:00 a.m., Harris can no longer win the election without winning Pennsylvania. 

After hours of steadily staying ahead of Harris, CNN predicted Trump would win Pennsylvania at 2:07 a.m., joining Fox's prediction. Despite my previous opinions, the win of this battleground state will lead to Trump's victory, and he will become the 47th President of the United States.