Just days before the end of voting in crucial midterm elections around the nation, Pennsylvania will play host to a battle of presidents as the leading figures from each party strive to rally supporters.
AP News reported that former US President Barack Obama begins the day at a Pittsburgh event with Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor and best opportunity to capture a Republican-held Senate seat on Tuesday.
Biden Remains Confident on Democrats Win
Later on in the day in Philadelphia, Obama, Fetterman, US President Joe Biden, and Josh Shapiro will all make an appearance for their respective campaigns for the US Midterms. Former President Donald Trump will end the day campaigning with Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and candidate for governor Doug Mastriano.
The presidential emphasis on Pennsylvania highlights the stakes in 2022 and beyond for a presidential battleground state hosting important Senate, House, and governor races on Tuesday's US Midterms. The Senate race could decide the majority for the next two years, affecting Biden's agenda and judicial nominations. The governor's race will impact state policies and election machinery before the 2024 election.
Polls suggest a close race between Donald Trump's pick, Oz, and Biden's, Fetterman, to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Shapiro, the Democratic state attorney general, is up in the polls over Mastriano, a state legislator and retired Army colonel who, according to some Republicans, is too conservative to win a general election in a state that Biden barely took two years ago.
And while Democrats are optimistic about the Pennsylvania governor's race, they spend the weekend on justifications as voters turn against Biden's administration in the face of rising prices, crime fears, and general cynicism about the country's future.
Though, President Joe Biden told reporters he's certain Democrats will win the House in the US Midterms, as reported by The Washington Post.
As he readies to leave California for his trip to Chicago, Pres. Biden expressed confidence that Democrats are "going to win this time around." "We're keeping the House," he said.
Oz crafted a centrist image in the general election and attacked Fetterman's progressive ideas on criminal justice and drug reform. Some voters, particularly Republicans who don't trust him because he's too liberal or insincere, have been resistant to Oz's pitch.
Pennsylvania Republicans Raise Concern on Midterm Ballot
On Saturday night, Donald Trump will mobilize support for Oz and Mastriano in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
After receiving Trump's backing, Oz's chances of becoming the Republican nominee improved, albeit only slightly. The former Republican president is placing his bets on the famous TV doctor to help him win over suburban women in the pivotal swing state.
This is just one stop on Trump's final rally blitz, which will also take him to pivotal presidential battleground states like Florida and Ohio. He plans to announce his run for president in 2024 in the days or weeks after the midterm elections, and he's hoping a strong GOP showing this week would generate momentum for his campaign.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Pennsylvania are concerned about how the state would handle mail-in votes with inaccurate or lacking dates.
According to Fox News, Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman and Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, both Republicans, wrote to interim Pennsylvania Secretary of State Leigh Chapman, a Democrat, on Friday: "Your office should ensure counties have clarity that undated mail-in ballots should be kept separate from mail-in ballots with a completed voter declaration and that those ballots should not be counted."
The letter to the secretary of state of Pennsylvania comes days after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court instructed election officials to refuse mail-in ballots with the incorrect date indicated on the envelope, potentially invalidating a large number of votes in tight races in next week's midterm elections.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated in its brief opinion that the justices were divided on the subject of whether or not it is illegal to discard ballots for trivial reasons, such as having the wrong date or no date marked on the envelope in which they are mailed.
The court ordered Pennsylvania county boards of elections to "segregate and preserve" undated or erroneously dated votes in the US Midterms. Doing so would protect the ballots if a higher court reverses the decision or determines that the destruction of such votes would infringe on federal law.
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