Biden, Trump campaigns amplify Pa. presence ahead of first debate

In the run-up to Thursday night’s first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the rivals’ campaigns have boosted their presence in Pennsylvania by holding rallies, ramping up ad buys and opening campaign offices.

So far, the Biden campaign efforts are outpacing those of the Trump camp.

This week, the Biden campaign held seven events across Pennsylvania, including two in Pittsburgh, within the last several days.

On Sunday, First Lady Jill Biden rallied with supporters in Millvale, touting her husband’s efforts to protect abortion rights. On Wednesday, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey held a press conference with labor leaders and supporters boosting Biden’s pro-union stances.

Trump has also upped his game in Pennsylvania this month, but not yet in the Pittsburgh area.

In June, the Trump campaign opened offices in Philadelphia and Reading in the southeastern part of the state, with a focus on reaching out to Black and Latino voters.

Alison Dagnes, a political science professor at Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania, said that both campaigns are increasing their presence in Pennsylvania because they know it is crucial to their campaigns.

“The campaigns know this and are throwing a lot of money at our battleground state,” Dagnes said. “Expect to see a lot of ads and get more than a few knocks at the door.”

Even with the campaign presence in Biden’s favor, the president is trailing Trump in the most recent Pennsylvania polls by a couple of percentage points.

Dagnes said that sets up even more pressure for the debate, with Biden and Trump both needing to win Pennsylvania to reclaim the presidency.

“Pennsylvania is sharply and closely divided by party affiliation,” she said. “Both of these men are the candidates in 2024, so it’s not certain who will win since both have won before.”

Campaign Presence

The Biden campaign opened 24 local offices throughout Pennsylvania by late April, including Pittsburgh and Beaver County in the southwestern part of the state. Biden’s national campaign headquarters is being run out of Philadelphia.

Biden himself visited Pittsburgh in April to rally with the United Steelworkers labor union and has sent several surrogates to Pittsburgh and cities across Pennsylvania numerous times this year. Biden has already campaigned five times in the Philadelphia area since January.

The Trump campaign has yet to open an office in the Pittsburgh area. Trump rallied in Lehigh County in April, his first Pennsylvania rally of the year.

The campaign did not return a request for comment for this story.

Heavy ad spending

Biden’s campaign has also heavily outspent Trump and his allies on ads in Pennsylvania.

As of a month ago, the Biden campaign had spent $21.2 million on ads in Pennsylvania, according to NPR.

That’s out of $72.1 million that had been spent in total on ads in the presidential election, almost 70% of which was spent in seven battleground states, NPR reported.

MAGA Inc., an outside political group supporting Trump, spent over $9 million in Pennsylvania as of late last month, according to NPR.

The Trump campaign has yet to run ads in Pennsylvania. Trump will run his first Pennsylvania ads tonight during the debate, with spots criticizing Biden on the economy and immigration, as well as an ad insulting Biden for falling off a bicycle and tripping on stairs, implying Biden is physically unfit for office.

“No matter what Joe Biden promised in the debate, ask yourself: Are you financially better off since he became president?” says one of Trump’s ads that will air Thursday night.

Biden is also running ads in Pennsylvania before and during the debate, with a commercial touting Biden’s role in pro-worker initiatives and capping insulin costs.

Rick Pireaux of Local Ironworkers 3 union campaigned for Biden on Wednesday outside of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh.

He said Trump made promises to create funding for infrastructure to create jobs for the building trades unions but never followed through. Pireaux, 43, of Rostraver, praised Biden for passing the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other bills.

“The contrast is strong,” he said. “Donald Trump talked about supporting workers over and over, but Joe Biden does support workers. All of the legislation Biden passed will lead to jobs for workers.”

Trump up in polls

Biden’s strong presence in Pennsylvania is not translating in the polls.

An Emerson College poll taken from June 13-18 among Pennsylvania voters, had Trump leading 45%-43% over Biden.

A Marist College poll a week earlier in Pennsylvania showed Trump up 47%-45%.

Just 42% of Pennsylvanians approve of Biden’s job as president, while 54% disapprove, according to the Marist results.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, one of Biden’s strongest allies in the region, said he expects Biden to perform well in the debate, which could boost the president’s chances in Pennsylvania.

“You got to stay passionate about what you believe in, and I know President Biden can do that,” Gainey said.

The debate starts at 9 p.m. and is being broadcast on CNN from the network’s studios in Atlanta. A second debate is planned for September.