Suburbs of small cities like Harrisburg are shifting blue -- and could help Kamala Harris win Pa. [View all]

LOWER ALLEN, Pa. — Joseph Swartz began identifying himself as a disaffected Republican in 2008, over what he saw as a more adversarial Sarah Palin-esque brand of GOP politics.

Come 2016, Swartz voted for Hillary Clinton — the first time he ever supported a Democratic presidential candidate.

Soon after, he left the party altogether.

“I didn’t feel good about having to do, you know, sort of, logical gymnastics in order to explain how voting for Republicans is consistent with my Christian faith,” said Swartz, 37. “… I started getting tired of it, and that culminated with leaving the party in 2017.”

Last year, he was the first Democrat elected in nearly two decades to the five-member board of commissioners in Lower Allen, a suburban town of about 20,000 people just south of Harrisburg in Cumberland County.



https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/harrisburg-suburbs-voting-trends-2024-election-trump-harris-20240909.html