Pennsylvania once again played a huge role in the election after Donald Trump’s victory in the critical swing state led to him winning the presidency.
The keystone state was a part of the once-reliable Democratic stronghold known as the “blue wall” with Michigan and Wisconsin but was carried by Trump when he first won the White House in 2016 and then flipped back to Democrats in 2020 before turning red again in 2024.
Within the state, Bucks County also experienced a flip from blue to red on Tuesday. According to vote totals from Wednesday afternoon, about 500 votes separated Trump from Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
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One Bucks County voter, Yvette Pigeon, told NBC10 she was “devastated” by the election results.
“I can’t believe that we’re finding ourselves where we’re finding ourselves as a country. It’s very sad,” Pigeon told NBC10. “I think that racism and homophobia won."
One area that remained overwhelmingly blue was Philadelphia though voter turnout was lower than the last presidential election. With about 99% of votes turned in by Wednesday evening, the Philadelphia City Commissioners reported about 708,004 votes were cast, meaning about 63.35% of registered voters participated.
Decision 2024
South Philadelphia resident Steven Giovanetti told NBC10 that he and his family all voted for Trump and “Democratic corruption” was his biggest concern in the presidential race.
“I think they’re just terrible people,” Giovanetti said of the Democratic party. “All of them.”
Giovanetti also said he was concerned with financial issues and hopes the economy will improve.
“Everybody’s mortgages and bills and stuff so it’s getting rough, you know? And it shouldn’t be,” he said. “This country has so much money but we’re giving it away to everybody else.”
Barry Billups, a North Philadelphia resident who voted for Kamala Harris, told NBC10 prayer has helped him get through his disappointment.
“Obviously, we had candidates that we wanted to vote for and wanted in there for our personal reasons or perspectives of what we think was best. But it’s all God’s plan anyway,” Billups said. “To my Democratic party, I know we didn’t get the results we were looking for. But let’s just stay positive. Let’s just do our part and that’s come out and be good citizens every single day.”
Yvette, a Philadelphia resident who did not reveal her full name, told NBC10 she voted for Harris and was disappointed by the result as well.
“Knowing how racist he is,” Yvette, a Puerto Rican, told NBC10. “How evil he is. And how the Latinos voted for him after he degraded our island.”
Despite outrage over a comedian’s insults towards Puerto Rico at a New York City Trump rally prior to Election Day, Trump still received widespread support from the Latino community.
Trump gained 45% of the Latino vote, a 13-point increase from 2020 and a record high for a Republican presidential nominee, according to NBC News exit polls.
David Torres, a Latino Trump supporter and Philly resident, told NBC10 the economy and inflation were among his biggest concerns.
“We got little barbershops man. You know the economy hurt them,” he said. “You know little store owners that the economy hurt them. We need to surround these people and get our economy back.”
Karla Rojas, a local immigration advocate, believes the next four years will lead to “uniting and education people.”
“Educating them about their rights,” she said. “Educating them about what’s going to happen if ICE comes to your door. What happens? What are the next steps?”
Eva Mirtha Hernandez, a Philadelphia business owner, told NBC10 she’s concerned about unity amid another Trump presidency as well.
“We have to be united,” she said.
It’s a sentiment that Torres agrees with.
“I would be the first one to go against Trump if he doesn’t keep his promise,” Torres said. “We need to unite.”
Dana Eslava, a political science major and Temple University student who voted for Harris, told NBC10 she believes other factors played a role in the high Latino turnout, especially from Latino men, where Trump saw a voter gain of 18 percent from the last election.
“I think in Latino culture, machismo is really big. You know, sexism,” she said. “And a lot of people were struggling with the vision of a female president.”
Young voters had a significant impact on the presidential election. Trump saw a six percent increase in voters between the ages of 18 and 29 while Harris saw a five percent drop from Biden in comparison to the 2020 election.
Trump gained strong support in particular from young men and focused heavily on them throughout his campaign. Charlie Leutholb, a sophomore at Rutgers University, was one of the men who voted for Trump, though he told NBC10 immigration and the border are what mattered to him the most.
“Most of them just want to have a working, better opportunity at life and I think it’s an amazing thing but I just think that there should be some more structured things in place to make sure American citizens are safe,” he said.
Eslava said she was disappointed about the high amount of young men who voted for Trump, especially with reproductive rights being such an important issue for her. She told NBC10 it’s an issue that impacts men as well.
“Women are going to choose to not be sexually active,” she said. “And that is going to affect a lot of men, especially on college campuses, who think that women will be active with them.”
Leutholb admitted that while he voted for Trump, he supports abortion rights.
“I don’t think men should have any right to tell women what to do with their body,” he said. “That’s the main piece I disagree with.”
