In Pennsylvania, the Ukraine vote could prove pivotal [View all]

Source: The Hill

09/28/24 12:00 PM ET


Vera Andryczyk is a card-carrying member of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, but as a Ukrainian-American, she’s putting her efforts into canvassing for Vice President Harris and reelecting the Democratic congresswoman from her district. Foreign policy is usually a low priority in presidential elections, but Pennsylvania’s unique connection to, and investment in, U.S. support for Ukraine make it a major focus — and flashpoint — of the November contest.

Andryczyk is part of the estimated 1 percent of Pennsylvania’s population that is of Ukrainian heritage, a small but significant number of voters in a state that President Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 81,000 votes. “I’ve encouraged at every fundraiser, every social meeting, I keep telling them, not only can you not vote for [former President] Trump, but you have to vote for the Democrat,” the self-described young 82-year-old told The Hill in a phone call. “Because this is a very, very close election, and we cannot afford — Ukraine, the United States, the world — cannot afford another term.”

The Keystone State is considered one of, if not the most, important swing states in the 2024 presidential election, carrying with it the prize of 19 Electoral College votes. And Harris and Trump’s diverging positions on Ukraine are taking center stage. In addition to the estimated 100,000 Ukrainian-Americans in Pennsylvania, Polish-Americans make up about 5 percent of the state’s population, and it has significant populations of Americans with heritage from Baltic states and other eastern-European nations that are often concerned about their homelands being on the frontline of Russian aggression.

These voters are not a monolith but are generally active in U.S. support for Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia and are fiercely protective of democracy — with family histories marred by the hardships and oppression of Nazi, communist and Soviet regimes.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4904007-in-pennsylvania-the-ukraine-vote-could-prove-pivotal/