🗳️ The ‘swingiest’ state in politics | Morning Newsletter

It’s a hot and sunny Friday, Philly, with high temps near 90. If you’re visiting the Shore, watch out for extra-strong rip currents.

Pennsylvania’s status as a swing state will be especially pronounced this weekend, when both leading presidential candidates visit in hopes of swinging it in their direction. Read on for a rundown of where the election stands in our purple Commonwealth.

And two months after University of the Arts’ surprise shutdown, a former dance instructor is rushing to avoid deportation. Here’s what you need to know today.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Call it a battleground, or call it “the swingiest of all states” like a nearby senator just did. The leading candidates know purple Pennsylvania could hold the key to winning the presidential election.

🗳️ With just 80 days to go, national eyes will be on the Keystone State this weekend when former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris campaign in Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh, respectively.

🗳️ Trump’s visit to Luzerne County is a sign of how essential, and unpredictable, such places will be in November. The blue-collar county went red in the past two elections, but had been solidly blue for decades before. It’s now evenly divided between registered Republicans and Democrats.

🗳️ Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance on Thursday visited New Kensington in Westmoreland County. And Harris made her first public appearance with her own VP pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at a Philadelphia rally last week.

🗳️ The visits come as Harris is polling ahead of Trump in the state.

Meanwhile, the election is impacting even the most local of politics: The Souderton school board abruptly ended a meeting Wednesday night after being interrupted by parents who wanted to address a board member’s vulgar comment about Harris.

P.S. Our politics team just kicked off their PA 2024 newsletter, featuring weekly analysis, fact checks, and data dives on this election cycle’s most important developments. Sign up for free to get it every Friday.

University of the Arts’ sudden closure in June left 1,300 students without a school and hundreds of employees without a job. One of them was Su Güzey, a dancer from Turkey who moved to Philadelphia in 2021 to earn her MFA. She later became an adjunct assistant professor in the dance program.

Now, she’s desperately trying to find her footing.

Her options include finding another job in academia — a challenge in a city with diminishing arts programs — or pursuing an “artist visa,” which could grant her an extended stay in the United States.

“The feeling of home is something you desperately seek,” Güzey told The Inquirer, of her experience as an immigrant. “It’s not a space that you create. People make a home for you, and the people I’ve met have made Philly home for me.”

Arts and culture reporter Earl Hopkins has the story.

Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. We’ll feature both new and timeless stories from our forum for readers to ask about the city’s quirks.

This week, we have an explainer from reporter Michelle Myers on why the visage of Danny Trejo is painted onto a wall at East Tusculum Street and Frankford Avenue. Perhaps the Los Angeles-native actor has some Kensington connection?

None that’s apparent. Still, inspired by the Machete Kills star’s 55 years of sobriety, the local muralist behind it picked him as a symbol of hope in the fight against addiction. Here’s the full explanation.

Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.

Another experiential retail space coming to Philly, at the former West Elm on Chestnut Street. What is it?

A) Formula One racing arcade

B) Bluey play space

C) Netflix House theater

D) Insomnia Cookies kitchen

Think you know? Check your answer.

🍝 Jealous of: These Dobbins High culinary arts students’ summer vacation.

🐕 High-tailing it to: This Manayunk social club for dogs (and people).

🍧 Excited to see: West Philly native Colman Domingo’s water ice monologue.

The name of the pedestrian-focused initiative to temporarily close public thoroughfares to vehicular traffic.

OPT SERENEST

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Michael Bloom, who solved Thursday’s anagram: Freedom Theatre. American Fiction actor Erika Alexander will soon have a section of Master Street named after her to commemorate the North Philadelphia theater, where she was discovered at age 14.

You can practically taste summer just looking at those watermelons. And on that note, I hope you enjoy your own summer weekend. See you back here next week!

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