All eyes will be on Pennsylvania tonight. But not all counties in Pennsylvania are the same when it comes to what to watch in the state after most polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
Some are notable, both based on the campaign’s work there and the narrative they sought to promote. It may be considered a top priority by insiders because of a quick count or the resulting number of voters.
allegheny county
Nearly all Pennsylvania officials and operatives who spoke to NBC News over the past two weeks named Allegheny County as the first county to look to to see how the state is breaking away.
Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, went to Biden in 2020 by more than 20 points. A margin of 20 points or more this year would indicate that Harris is likely to win the state. The county could count mail-in ballots quickly in 2022 as well, which is part of the reason insiders are paying attention tonight. That’s because Allegheny County surpassed Philadelphia County in 2022 with significantly higher voter turnout.
“Allegheny County tends to receive mail faster, which is surprising to me,” said state Rep. Josh Kyle, chairman of the state House Republican Campaign Committee. “I hear that Philadelphia has a population of 1.5 million people, and Allegheny County is actually about the same size. … The margins of Allegheny County will tell the story.”
cambria county
Democrats have made further gains in rural Pennsylvania this term, and nowhere is that more evident than in Cambria County, visited by Harris and other top surrogates, including former President Bill Clinton. President Trump also held a rally here. So this is a good test case to see if Democrats can actually carve out Trump’s big advantage in these red counties.
Cambria County extended voting hours to 10 p.m. on Tuesday after a software glitch prevented voters from submitting their ballots this morning.
montgomery county
This could actually be any county around Philadelphia, but let’s take the largest county. Again, this is a question of how big Harris will win. Even if she were to surpass Biden’s 26-point margin of victory, it would be hard to imagine her falling in the state. But this was a big win for Biden in 2020, and Harris is counting on more Republican defections to build on it. If the gap narrows even further here, it would be a signal that suburbs across the Keystone State are leaning toward President Trump.
