The Harris campaign is feeling “good” about early ballots in Pennsylvania and other key battleground states as voters headed to the polls on Tuesday, a spokesperson said.
“Listen, we feel good about what we’re seeing in Pennsylvania and across the battleground states,” Harris-Walz communications director Michael Tyler said on Fox News when asked about early vote numbers in the Keystone State.
Nearly 1.8 million mail ballots have been cast in Pennsylvania, according to the latest early voting data from the University of Florida’s Election Lab. Democrats make up roughly 56 percent of those ballots, while Republicans make up around 33 percent.
In 2020, when 2.6 million mail ballots were returned in the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Democrats made up 65 percent and Republicans made up 24 percent, according to data from the previous cycle.
“I think when you look at the early vote data, yes, there has been a mode shift because Republicans — they used to disparage early voting and claim it was fraud,” Tyler said. “They have now embraced it and have encouraged their voters to do so. So you’re seeing a little bit of a mode shift.”
But he argued Democrats are “hitting our benchmarks” in states like Pennsylvania.
Harris wrapped up her last day of campaigning before Election Day with a blitz through Pennsylvania, making her final pitch from Philadelphia. She also went door-knocking in a residential neighborhood in Reading, Pa.
Tyler said the campaign is “not resting on our laurels” despite optimism about Pennsylvania.
“That’s why over the weekend we were knocking on over three million doors across the battleground states, a billion and a half doors in Pennsylvania alone, 90,000 plus volunteers across the battleground states. And that is to hit our target voters, the voters who we know are going to be voting for Vice President Harris,” he said.
In Decision Desk HQ/The Hill’s polling averages, former President Trump has a 0.8 percent lead in Pennsylvania, a swing state that’s part of a crucial path to victory for both candidates.
Nationally, the rivals are at a tie, according to the DDHQ/The Hill average.
