LEVITTOWN, Pa.—Hours before Donald Trump and Kamala Harris squared off for their presidential debate Tuesday night, about 50 activists gathered at a Bucks County hotel to organize for a day of door-knocking in this closely divided Philadelphia.
Americans for Prosperity Action recruited the grassroots team as part of its effort to visit 1 million homes by Election Day in support of Senate candidate Dave McCormick.
In the closely watched Keystone State matchup, the Republican McCormick is challenging a 17-year Democrat incumbent, Sen. Bob Casey, in an election that could determine partisan control of the U.S. Senate.
On this sunny and warm September day, the canvassers heard a midmorning pep talk from McCormick, then dispersed to nearby Levittown and Bensalem in hopes of persuading Bucks County swing voters.
AFP Action and partner LIBRE Action invited The Daily Signal to observe the operation.
Dressed in bright gold shirts and armed with smartphones to pinpoint their destination, the activists fanned out across neighborhoods to deliver pro-McCormick flyers.
“We know that that universe of swing voters in Pennsylvania is about 1 million,” AFP Action senior adviser Emily Greene told The Daily Signal. “We’re working toward that million-door goal. And we’re very optimistic that if we can reach these voters before Election Day, we can bank their vote for Dave McCormick.”
AFP Action began its canvassing operation in April and surpassed the 600,000 mark last week. It’s active in all 67 of Pennsylvania’s counties, but it’s paying particular attention to three swing counties: Bucks and Montgomery, north of Philadelphia, and Alleghany, home to Pittsburgh and its suburbs.
As of Aug. 30, according to the Bucks County Board of Elections, registered Republican voters hold an edge over Democrats by a narrow margin: 199,893 Republicans compared to 198,957 Democrats with another 83,512 aligning with other political parties.
Greene anticipates that in places such as Bucks County, there will be split-ticket voters who back both a Democrat and Republican on the same ballot. That was the case in 2016, when then-Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, won Bucks Country by 18,189 votes, even as Trump narrowly lost there by 2,699.
In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden beat Trump by 17,345 votes in Bucks County. Biden won Pennsylvania by 82,166 votes of the nearly 7 million cast.
Pennsylvania’s status as the ultimate swing state is one reason AFP Action has deployed a team of 230 canvassers to connect with voters.
“It takes a lot of hard work and a desire to win—and hundreds of people on the ground. They’re out every single day,” Greene said. “We have so much activity across all 67 counties, but particularly in those three counties, because we know that’s where we’re going to have to make up the difference.”
Greene recounted her recent interaction with a voter named Sue from Montgomery County who spoke about the heavy rotation of TV ads about McCormick and not knowing what to believe. Greene said having a face-to-face conversation with Sue helped answer her questions and dispel any myths about McCormick’s background and policy views.
In addition to campaigning for McCormick, the AFP Action team is using the canvassing operation to keep tabs on the policy issues motivating voters.
“Regardless of party affiliation—Democrat, Republican, independent—we’re hearing people cite the economy at their No. 1 reason to vote,” Greene said. “A close second is immigration and border security. And that’s really across all 67 counties. They see what’s happening at the southern border, and they’re fearful.”
Greene added that the high cost of gas—in a state with so many natural resources—was often on the minds of voters.
“Whether or not they know their options for the U.S. Senate seat, they want change,” she said. “They want something different. They’re frustrated.”