Kamala Harris makes an appeal to Republican voters in Chester County alongside Liz Cheney
Harris’ visit to Pennsylvania comes as polling averages show her in a statistical tie with Trump in Pennsylvania, the first time she hasn’t led Trump since July.
Vice President Kamala Harris reached her hand out to conservative and centrist Republican voters in Chester County during a moderated talk with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) on Monday, part of Harris’ renewed push for undecided voters in the Philadelphia collar counties in the final weeks before Election Day.
Flanked on stage by about two dozen voters and red backdrops reading “Country Over Party,” Harris and Cheney were moderated by Sarah Longwell, publisher of the Bulwark, a center-right, anti-Trump political news publication. Longwell, who grew up in Perry County, also helped found Republican Voters Against Trump.
During the 45-minute conversation at People’s Light in Malvern, Harris underscored the threat she believes former President Donald Trump poses to democracy and stood firm in her belief in restoring abortion access nationwide.
“This election is presenting for the first time probably in recent history a very clear choice in difference between the two nominees, and I think that is what … is bringing us as Americans together,” Harris said.
The event occurred in the final stretch of the campaign, as Harris has extended herself across the aisle to Republicans who have grown dissatisfied with Trump. Last week, she visited purple Bucks County to speak to Republicans in Washington Crossing and sat for an interview with Fox News’ Brett Baier.
» READ MORE: Kamala Harris says Donald Trump is a threat to the Constitution as she makes an appeal to Republicans in Bucks County
During the town hall, Cheney — who in Congress had an A rating from the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which scores legislators on their opposition to abortion — also addressed voters who oppose abortion rights, saying Republican-controlled state legislatures have diminished women’s access to health care after the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections.
“I think there are many of us around the country who have been pro-life, but have watched what’s going on in our states since the Dobbs decision,” Cheney said, “and have watched state legislatures put in place laws that are resulting in women not getting the care they need.”
Reproductive rights is a top issue for suburban women, and an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College poll found that abortion was among the top issues for eligible Pennsylvania voters.
Harris’ visit to Pennsylvania comes as polling averages show her in a statistical tie with Trump in Pennsylvania, the first time she hasn’t led Trump since she replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket in late July.
The slight shift is according to the most recent averages informed by more than 150 different polls and analyzed by FiveThirtyEight, a poll analysis website. Both campaigns have zeroed in on the Philadelphia suburbs in the final weeks before Election Day, as the race comes down to razor-thin margins in what the campaigns have suggested is the most important battleground state.
Cheney worked in the U.S. State Department under former President George W. Bush and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Cheney, who had been the No. 3 Republican in the House, was among a handful of Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Her criticism of Trump in the wake of the riot eventually led to her ouster from House GOP leadership and the election loss of her congressional seat.
She was especially critical of Trump’s foreign policy stances on Monday.
“Our adversaries know that they can play Donald Trump,” said Cheney. “They absolutely know they can play him, and we simply can’t afford to take that risk.”
The women also took aim at the ways they said Trump has threatened the nation’s democracy.
“I’ve spent time working in countries where people aren’t free ... and I know how quickly democracy can unravel,” said Cheney, who also served as vice chair of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack. “As someone who has seen first hand how quickly it can happen … it’s absolutely what’s on the ballot.”
In response, the Trump campaign’s Pennsylvania spokesperson, Kush Desai, called Cheney an “irrelevant former ‘[Republican]’ of the past,” and said a Harris presidency was “the last thing Pennsylvanians want or need.”
Chester Springs resident Ashton Simmons, 46, was already set on casting his vote for Harris when he sat in on the moderated discussion on Monday.
But he left the event feeling optimistic about the rising expense of child and eldercare.
Due to increased housing costs, Simmons’ 24- and 26-year-old children and his two grandchildren live with him. Simmons is helping pay for daycare and thinking about his own financial future, but said he and his wife also have aging parents.
“Chances are we’re going to have to step up,” he said. “If [Harris] wins, she’s going to tackle these issues.”
During the town hall, Delaware County resident Alexandra Miller said she has a 7-year-old son and a 72-year-old mother with dementia who requires extensive care. Miller asked Harris how she proposes making child and eldercare more affordable and, at the same time, ensure that the workers who provide that care are paid fairly.
“First of all, you’re dealing with a lot,” Harris said, “and I just wish you strength and support.”
Proposing a plan where eldercare is covered by Medicare, Harris said Miller is a part of the “sandwich generation,” those who are both raising young children and taking care of elderly parents.
“This issue for me is a matter of dignity. Yours, your parents’, and the well-being of your child,” said Harris.
Bucks County resident Mark Lopatin, a registered Republican who is voting for Harris and sat on the stage behind her, also left on a positive note.
Lopatin took notice of how Harris acknowledged how the resident who asked the eldercare question was “dealing with a lot” and was empathetic in her answer.
“Harris may not have all the answers, but she wants to do what she can to help others,” said Lopatin.
Answering a question from a 22-year-old student, Harris and Cheney also discussed reproductive rights and maternal health. Harris said she worried that restricting reproductive freedoms also disincentivized medical students to study maternal health.
“I’ve met with a lot of OB-GYNs who are concerned that there are young people going through their medical school who are now feeling deterred from engaging in reproductive health work,” Harris said. If elected, Harris vowed to sign a law passed by Congress providing federal protections to abortion access.
“[B]ecause I strongly believe one does not have to give up or abandon their own faith or beliefs to agree that — not the government telling her what to do,” Harris said.
Cheney joined Harris at stops Monday in Wisconsin and Michigan, two other battleground states.