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Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Joanna McClinton addresses the crowd at the opening of the Biden campaign’s new Eastern Pennsylvania headquarters in Center City. (Carmen Russell-Sluchansky/WHYY)
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The Biden campaign opened their Eastern Pennsylvania headquarters in Center City on Saturday. Dozens showed up at the new campaign office where prominent Democrats addressed supporters and attempted to energize their base. U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Speaker of the Pa. House of Representatives Joanna McClinton, and Philadelphia City Council Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas attended the opening ceremony.
Biden’s 2024 national campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, said she just finished opening 14 field offices in the state, including ones in Delco and the Lehigh Valley. She called the effort a demonstration that the campaign is taking nothing for granted.
“Right now, we’re out raising Donald Trump, we’re out raising Republicans, we’re opening offices and they haven’t even opened one,” she said.
Biden established his national headquarters in Philadelphia during the 2020 campaign. This year, he chose Wilmington in his home state of Delaware as his base.
But, his campaign appears intent on making every effort to corral Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes.
“Pennsylvania elects presidents and President Biden and Vice President Harris’s reelection runs right through the heart of Center City right here in Philadelphia,” said Nikki Liu, Biden’s Pennsylvania campaign manager.
Philadelphia is overwhelmingly blue with more than 75% of voters registered as Democrats. Biden, however, may still have a challenge in the city. Nationally, his 2020 supporters appear less enthusiastic, possibly because of his age, the strife in Gaza, and an economy that is still working its way out of the COVID crisis.
A recent poll showed that only 17% of expected 2024 voters are enthusiastic for their chosen candidate. Less than one-third of those planning on voting for Biden are voting for the president as opposed to voting against his Republican challenger, Donald Trump.
These numbers have some Democrats worried that many voters in Pennsylvania and elsewhere may just stay home in November.
That wasn’t lost on the Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, State Sen. Sharif Street, who said that their presence in Philadelphia is to ensure they are able to get out the vote.
“They’re banking on us not showing up,” he said. “The math doesn’t match for them if Philadelphia shows up. So we are committed to making sure that Philadelphia shows up because we’re Philadelphia and we fight.”